


The Future is but a Roar in my Face

by ChiefDoctor



Series: Past and Future [2]
Category: Doctor Who RPF
Genre: F/M, Save our Mattex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-24
Updated: 2015-07-18
Packaged: 2018-03-08 20:20:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 32
Words: 53,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3222137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChiefDoctor/pseuds/ChiefDoctor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to "The Past is but a Whisper in my Ear".<br/>It would probably make the most sense to read the first story before this one as it is a continuation.</p>
<p>Matt and Alex made a decision....now how will everyone else react to it?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Reality of a Honeymoon

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Paddy90](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paddy90/gifts).



> As promised this story will begin where the other left off. Their decision was bold and brash and heartily fueled by tequila! What will their friends and family say? Can they actually make this marriage work? I suppose we'll find out together (since I haven't actually written the end yet!!!)
> 
> For Paddy90 for all the inspiration.

It’s hours later when the reminder alert on his phone wakes them from their slumber.  Looking at the clock on the nightstand he realizes its reminding him about his flight back to LA.  Laying there holding Alex in his arms he’s in no hurry to run to the airport.  _‘Why would I?  Everything I want is right here.’_

As he caresses her hand resting against his chest he feels her ring.  _‘We actually got married?’_   This is certainly not how he thought his weekend would end up.  Lying there he thinks about the repercussions they will have to face from friends and family for their rash decision.

Salome.  He hopes Salome will forgive them.  He’s always gotten on well with her; admittedly he had wondered what it would be like to be her step-father.  Of course she had been planning on another step-father, Tom.  He rubs his hand over his face as he thinks about what they have done to Tom with their sudden marriage.  From everything Alex said he was a nice guy.  He didn’t really like the idea of hurting him but there didn’t seem to be anyway around that now.  _‘God this was such a mess.’_

She shifted slightly against him and his eyes shifted to her form.  He loved her, he did.  And she loved him.  As sorry as he might feel for a man he’s never met he’ll never regret marrying Alex.  But how they proceed from this point forward needs to be considered. 

As he’s deeply contemplating their next move his stomach decides to announce (loudly) that it needs food.  Not surprisingly this causes Alex to stir but she quickly falls back asleep.

Quietly he leaves the bed going through the adjoining door to his own room.  He calls down for breakfast from room service to be brought to his room.  While waiting for its arrival he hops in the shower.  As the water beats against his body he thinks about the developments of the previous day.  He can’t but grin ridiculously.  _“Alex and I are actually married!  She loves me.’_   Any hopes he may have had for this weekend had not taken him here but he is happy that it has. 

After toweling off he finds his last set of clean clothes in his suitcase getting dressed just as the room service steward knocks.  Before answering he quietly closes the adjoining door not to give anything away.  _‘No sense starting the rumor mill before we have to.’_   With the breakfast set up he sneaks back to where Alex is sleeping.   

She looks so adorable, her face pressed into his pillow, her arm holding it as if it was him.  Her leg is exposed from under the sheet up to her thigh.  _‘God, she is gorgeous!_ ’  He lightly caresses her leg from her ankle to her thigh causing her to snuffle but not wake up.  A small grin appears on his face as he watches her.  Bending down beside the bed he kisses her on her cheek.  Speaking softly he says, “Kingston, time to get up.”  She opens one eye at him before closing it again to go back to sleep.  Gently he strokes against her face with his forefingers.  “There’s tea.”  He promises. 

Turning on her side she takes in how handsome he really is.  _‘Wait, did he shave?’_   Looking him up and down she notices he is already dressed.  Pulling on his arm he lays against her.  “Come back to bed, darling.”  Her lips kiss him passionately.

He smiles as their lips part, and he kisses the tip of her nose.  “We can if you like but breakfast first.”  He says softly.  When she pouts he adds, “I need the energy, wife.”  He waggles his eyebrows at her.

She gives in letting him help her from the bed.  With her dressing gown around her he takes her back to his room where a full breakfast is waiting.  He pulls out her chair letting her get settled.  Then he pours them tea, readying it the way she likes, sitting it in front of her.  After a few sips she seems to be more aware of her surroundings.  “Why are we in your room?”  She questions.

“I didn’t want the room service steward to see me in your room while you were still in bed and it was fairly obvious that I had spent the night.”  He said casually as he popped a sausage in his mouth.

Too busy eating; he didn’t notice the worry enveloping her.  _‘Is he regretting what we have done?’_   Peering over her tea she tries to determine where they are but she’s just unsure.  Finally she realizes she’s going to have to have this conversation whether she wants to or not.  Tentatively she asks, “Matt, are you sorry?”

Immediately he drops his fork looking straight at her.  “Are you?”  They talked earlier but this is the first time when their minds aren’t clouded by naked skin and alcohol.

“Asked you first.” Her voice is low and he realizes she is just scared.

Reaching across the table he takes her hand in his.  “Alex, I love you.  I’ve loved you for a very long time.  I was always afraid to say anything because I was sure you could never feel the same for me.”  She squeezes his hand hoping he knows she does.  “Do I wish that we would have done things differently I can’t lie.  Yes, I do.  But do I regret loving you, making love to you, or marrying you……not in the least.”  His heart is beating rapidly in his chest as he tries to decipher the look on her face.  _‘Does she regret this?’_   Scared of her answer he says, “Your turn?”

She pulls her hand back wrapping it around her other one as she brings them to rub against her lips.  His heart sinks through the floor.  _‘She’s trying to figure out how to let me down.’_   So caught up in this conclusion, he doesn’t notice her rising from her seat.

He feels her palm against his cheek turning his head to meet her eyes.  “Matt darling, I have thought about you for so many years wishing we could be more than friends.”  When he turns to her she sits in his lap her arm wrapped around his neck, her palm still holding his cheek.  “I didn’t think it was possible.  I thought I was being a silly old woman.”  He starts to protest but she presses her finger to his lips.

“My turn.”  He nods.  “It was why I didn’t keep in contact with you.  I was trying to distance myself from you.  I thought it would be best for you.  I still wonder if it wouldn’t.”  He shakes his head in disagreement.  “But I’m selfish, at least where you are concerned.  I want you in my life, in my arms.  I love you and I have for a very long time.”  At her declaration he lets out a sigh of relief letting a grin build on his face.

Tilting his face to her she captures his lips in a sweet kiss.  “I love you Matt.  I want this.”  She rests her head on his shoulder.

“I love you too Alex and I want this as well.”  He kisses her temple.  They sit there holding each other for several minutes basking in the glow of love…………….before they have to face reality.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	2. Love and Reality

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You have all been so lovely and supportive in the continuation of this story I didn't think you should have to wait any longer for another chapter. ;)

He is the first to break the peacefulness of their embrace. “But Alex, we’re going to have to decide how we want to handle this.  It won’t take long before someone finds out and it hits the Internet.”  She rises from his shoulder giving him a solemn look and nods.  “I know that’s not how you want Salome ….or Tom to find out.”  He reluctantly brings up Tom’s name.  He’s feeling immensely guilty for taking his fiancé away from him.  He loves Alex but that doesn’t mean he relishes in hurting someone else in the process.

She fingers the knot on her dressing gown contemplating the world outside of this room.  “Yes, your right darling.”  Resting her hand against his chest, her eyes fall to his.  “We’re going to need to have a plan.”

“Yes, we do.  Let’s start by finishing breakfast.”  She nods.  “We need to have our wits about us.”  She starts to get up but he holds her in place. 

“M-a-t-t, I thought you said we needed to finish breakfast.”  She whined.

He pecks at her cheek.  “I did but that doesn’t mean you have to leave to do that.”  He looks up into her eyes.  “I rather like you this close.”  She smiles.  Reaching across the table he brings her plate next to his.  With her fork he secures a sausage bringing it to her mouth to eat it.

Looking a bit wary she asks, “You’re going to feed me?” 

“Well that was the plan but if you don’t want it I can always eat it instead.”  He teases as he starts to pull the sausage away.  Moving quickly she catches the sausage between her teeth biting it in half.  He swallows hard as he watches her lips surround the sausage then take it in her mouth.

They manage to complete breakfast between kisses and caresses.  If it wasn’t for the imminent firestorm about to break as soon as their news gets out he would have carried her to his bed as soon as the food was finished.

They’re both sipping their tea deep in thought about how to proceed.  Looking over to the clock on the nightstand it’s obvious they aren’t going to make their flights.  “Well I suppose the first thing we need to do is reschedule our flights.”  He looks over to the time and nods.

His hand lightly rubs up and down her arm as they quietly think.  “I suppose it would be prudent to call our agents and publicists.  At least then they can handle things appropriately when it becomes public.”

Pulling her lip through her teeth she wonders just what that would be.  “So what should we say?”

“Well…..I’ve been thinking about that.  We should probably have them tell the truth.”  She raises an eyebrow at him.  “Alex, our marriage will be a matter of public record.  There’s no point in denying it.”

“No, that wasn’t what I meant.  It’s just Salome, and my parents.  That’s not exactly how I want them to find out.”

He nods in agreement.  “Oh god, me mum is going to kill me!”  Without thinking he pushes his hair back with his hand.

Looking nervous again she asks, “Because you married me?”

It takes him a minute to get why she is asking.  “Oh, you mean, me mum?  No, it’s not the who but the fact that she didn’t get to be there.”

“You don’t think she’ll have a problem with the who as well?”  Her eyes are not able to meet his.

With his hand on her chin he tilts her eyes towards him.  “No, I don’t.”

“Yes, because every mum wants their son to marry someone old enough to be his mother.” She says in a huff.

He pulls back looking at her with a frown.  “Is that how you see yourself?  Because I sure as hell don’t.”

“Why not?”

“Alex, look at me.  I’ll admit before I met you and I learned you and I would be working together I thought about the age difference.  I was the youngest Doctor and there was a lot being said about that in the media.  From your episodes with David I had guessed that you might one day be the Doctor’s wife.  I wasn’t sure how that would work with the age difference.  Then I met you and I never gave it another thought.”

“Really, darling?” 

“Really.  We just seemed to hit it off and it didn’t seem to matter that you were older or that I was younger.”  He pecks her cheek.

“Then why if you felt the way didn’t you ever ask me out?

He averts his eyes trying to hide so she won’t see his fear.  “I was afraid….afraid you didn’t feel the same way and then we wouldn’t be able to be friends anymore.  Why didn’t _you_ ever say anything?”

“I didn’t think it was possible that you could feel for me what I felt for you.  I was just so grateful to have you as my friend but then…….”

“But then, what?”

“Then I met Tom and I thought it was the right thing.  He was closer to my age, had a child.  I thought I could let the fantasy of you go.”

“But?”

“But I couldn’t let you go.  The closer the date for the wedding came the more I kept thinking about you.  When I was sitting there in that coffee shop with Karen I knew that Tom wasn’t the one I really wanted to be with…….it was you.”

“Then why didn’t you break things off with him, Alex?”

Leaping from his lap she begins to pace the floor.  “Because I’m a coward!  I couldn’t bear the thought of hurting him and now……..I’m going to hurt him much worse.  I’m such an idiot!”

Coming over to her he puts his arms around her trying to calm her.  “Alex, it will be alright.”  She gives him a look of disbelief.  “Ok, so it won’t be alright for a little while but then in the end everything will be fine.  We may just have to weather a bit of a storm to get there is all.”  She nods before laying her head against his chest enjoying the feel of his arms around her.

“Why don’t you go get your shower and then we’ll get those phone calls taken care of, ok?”  He kisses her temple.

“Ok.”  Rising on her tiptoes she gives him a proper kiss before heading back to her room to shower.

After collecting the breakfast dishes and leaving them in the hallway he sits down on his bed for the most difficult of all the phone calls…..his mum.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	3. Reality Seeps In

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short little chapter to move them along and tie you over till the weekend....

Leaving him to clean up from breakfast she heads to the shower in her room.  As the water warms she removes her dressing gown staring at herself in the washroom mirror.  She tries to see herself as Matt seems to but it’s hard not to notice the affect time has had on her body.   _‘Why couldn’t I be twenty years younger?’_  

Turning away from her reflection she slips into the shower letting the warm water cascade over her body.  In the privacy of her bath she finally gives in to the fear.  Her tears mix with the water as she thinks over this weekend and what she has done.  _‘Oh my god, I married Matt!  Matt and I are married! How the hell did that happen?’_  

This was never her plan for this weekend.  _‘What was my plan then?’_   She thought about how much effort she went to to get herself at this convention with Matt.  _‘Had I really wanted to end up here?’_   No, she hadn’t expected, could never have expected to have ended up here married to one man in Reno, with a fiancé at home in LA.

Thinking about Tom caused her to sway, maybe a little residual tequila as well.  Clutching the wall she lowered herself into the tub thinking about Tom, actually thinking about him, probably for the first time all weekend.  _‘He doesn’t deserve this.  Oh, what have I done?’_   As she sits there, her legs pulled to her chest, she rubs her face wondering how she is ever going to look him in the eye after this.  She has to though; he deserves that much from her.

Tom had made her so happy.  She didn’t think someone who didn’t live in her crazy world would ever understand her but he seemed to.  He had made her happy, made her feel loved.  “He’s been nothing but lovely to you Alexandra and now you are going to break his heart!”  She doesn’t have to say _‘just like they did’_ she knows it.  It makes her sick to her stomach.  She never wanted to treat anyone that way.  “How will I ever make this right?” She says to no one.

…..And Salome!  _‘What a fine example you have set for your daughter.  God, I’m such an idiot!’_   She sat there thinking of how she was going to tell everyone in her life that she had married Matt on a drunken whim. 

Soon the water started to turn cold and she needed to finish her shower.  By the time she was done the water was freezing and she couldn’t help but wonder if this was only the beginning of the penance she was going to have to pay for loving a man who should have been out of her reach.

As she unwrapped the towel around her frame she noticed for the first time the love bites Matt had left down her neck and across her chest.  _‘God, he was a fantastic lover!’_   In her fantasies over the years she always thought he would be.  She’s glad he lived up to them. 

Smiling she’s looking forward to fulfilling more of those fantasies she has had about him over the years.  As she slides on her robe she fleetingly wonders if there is any way they could get back into the TARDIS set.  A bright red blush takes over her face as she thinks of the times she wanted him to take her against the console.  _‘Maybe?’_ She wonders.

With happy thoughts of Matt she gets ready for what is going to be a difficult day at best.  She hopes Salome will forgive her and she prays that Tom won’t hate her….too much.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	4. Hello?  Mum?

“Hello?”  He hears his mum’s cheery voice answer the phone.

Taking a deep breath he hopes for the best.  “Mum?  Hello, it’s me your favorite son.” 

“You’re my only son.”  She deadpans

He responds playfully, “Well, doesn’t that make me your favorite?”

Immediately suspicious she replies, “I don’t know, what have you done?” 

_‘Damn!’_   He falters wondering how best to deliver the news.  “Well Mum, I have news.”

“Good news?”  Her voice tentative, worried that he hasn’t already said it.

“Absolutely!  I think it’s the best news ever.”

“Well, out with it then.”  She prompts.

He clears his throat, “I got married!”

He quickly pulls the phone away from his ear anticipating her response, “You WHAT!?!”  He gives her a few minutes to collect herself.  “Are you serious?”

“Yes.”  He says assuredly.

“Matt, I don’t know what to say.  I thought you and Lily broke up.”

Rolling his eyes, he should have anticipated that she would assume he had married Lily.  “Mum, we are.  I didn’t marry Lily.”

“You are?  You didn’t?  Matt, who the hell did you marry?”  She demands.

“I married Alex.”

“Alex?  Alex Kingston?”

“That’s the one.”

She was silent and he knew she was processing his news.  He felt it best to wait.  “Matt, you and Alex got married?  When?”

“We got married last night.”

“Where are you?  I thought you were going to a fan convention or something.”

“I did.  We did.  Alex and I both were at the convention, here in Reno.”

“Reno?  Nevada?”

“Yes.”

Another long pause.  “So seriously, you got married?”

“Yes mum, I got married to Alex in Reno, Nevada last night.”

“Don’t get smart with me young man.  This isn’t exactly something I was expecting.”  Another pause.  “Are you happy?”

“Yes Mum, I am ecstatic!  I know this isn’t how you might have expected it, neither did I, but I am very happy.  She makes me very happy Mum.” 

“You know that’s all I want for you, don’t you.”  He could tell she was still trying to accept his news.

“Yes Mum, I do.”

“Alright, well I think I better go tell your father.  Have you told your sister?”

“No, you were the first!”

He can tell that put a smile on her face even through the phone.  “Well, thank you for that.”

“Um Mum, one favor please?”

“Of course, what is it?”

“You can tell dad and Lor but no one else, at least for now.”

“Why?”

“Because Alex hasn’t told her parents or her daughter yet and were trying to keep a lid on this until we can.”

“Ok, I understand but I’m sure it won’t take long to make the papers.  You know that don’t you?”

“Yes, we do.  We just want to be able to tell the important people ourselves before it gets out.”

“I understand.  I won’t say anything to anyone other than your dad and sister.”

“Thanks Mum.  I love you.”

“I love you too.  Tell Alex……tell Alex, welcome to the family.”  He smiles knowing that his mum wouldn’t stay mad at him for long.  She’s known how he’s felt about Alex for years now.  After he split up with Daisy she had even encouraged him to let Alex know how he felt, but he never had the courage.

“Thanks Mum, that means a lot……to both of us.” His voice a little choked on emotion.  “Bye.”

“Bye son.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He sits there holding the phone thinking about how surreal that conversation was.  He just told his mum that he was married…..to Alex……….and he was!  _‘Where is she?’_   He gets up off the bed and wanders into Alex’s room.  From the washroom he can hear her fussing.  Resting against the doorframe, he watches as she applies her mascara.

She sees him in the mirror watching her.  The look on his face is puzzling so she turns to look at him.  “What is it darling?”

He clears his throat bringing himself back to the present.  “Well, I told my mum.”  Her eyes go wide as if asking how it went.  “She told me to tell you, welcome to the family.”

Clutching her hand to her chest her eyes go even wider, “Really?”

He takes the few steps to her gathering her in his arms.  “Really!”  He kisses her softly.  “I told you it would be alright.”  He holds her tight glad she can’t see the worry on his face in the mirror.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	5. Bound for LA

First things first, they change their flights to a little later in the day.  Separately they call their agents and publicists.  They had agreed that they would have them say ‘no comment’ until this time tomorrow when they would make an official announcement.

With the calls completed they each go to their own rooms to pack.  It hardly takes Matt any time at all to throw his things in his bag.  Sitting it next to his front door he wanders into Alex’s room through the adjoining door.  She’s flitting around the room gathering things stuffing them into her suitcase. 

Leaning against the wall he’s watching her, he doesn’t think she’s noticed him yet.  His eyes are drawn back to her bed…..where they spent their wedding night.  It all still seems like a dream.  One he hopes to never wake up from.  Absently he begins to finger his wedding ring.  It’s his anchor to reality.  It’s how he knows it’s real.

Her suitcase zipped she looks up to see Matt deep in thought.  She can’t help but wonder about what.  Watching him twirling his wedding ring on his hand she realizes they will need to take them off before they leave the room.

“Darling.”  Her voice shakes him from his thoughts and he’s surprised that she is right next to him.

“Yes?”  Automatically he reaches out for her pulling her into his chest.

“I think I’m all packed.”  Her arms snake around his neck.

“Well that’s good.”  He leans in taking her lips in his relishing at the taste of her on his tongue.

Just his lips on her make her go limp with want but they don’t have time.  Pushing against his chest he releases her giving her a puzzled look.  “Darling, it would be best if we didn’t miss this flight as well.”  He nods knowing she is right.  She takes a step back her hand sliding down his arm until her hand can entwine with his.  Bringing it to her lips she kisses his knuckle next to his ring.  “I think we are going to have to take these off before we leave here.”

He looks down at his ring, the ring he had just been twirling relishing in the feel of it against his fingers.  Swallowing a lump in his throat he knows she is right.  “I suppose so.”  Reluctantly he takes it off sliding it in his jeans pocket.  She removes hers putting it in the inside pocket of her purse.

“So are you ready darling?”  She asks tentatively.

Again he pulls her into his arms, “With you at my side, I am ready for anything.  Are you?  This is going to be much harder on you.”

Pressing her cheek into his chest she tightens her hold on him.  “I’m not going to lie to you darling.  I’m scared to death.”  He too tightens his hold on her.  Pushing up to look at him she says, “But we have to.  We,….I owe them the truth in person.”  He leans down kissing her once more before they leave behind what was their honeymoon.  He makes a mental note that they will have to have a proper honeymoon when things are settled.

He puts her bag by her door before going through to his room closing and locking the adjoining door behind him.  She locks her door on her side as well resting against it willing herself to have the strength to get through this day.  At the knock on her front door she pastes on a smile, readying herself for what lies ahead. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Matt greets her like it is the first he has seen her that day offering to carry her bag for her.  The trip to the airport is quiet.  They both have so much on their minds but none of it is conversation they want to have in public.  When he takes her hand after the taxi pulls out she almost slips her hand out except she needs him.  She needs to feel him close, to believe that this is all real, and that she doesn’t want it to end.

Matt had completely forgotten about having to go through security.  He nearly panics when he empties his pockets into the provided tray and he sees his wedding ring sitting amongst the change there.  Fortunately it didn’t seem that anyone else noticed.

Luckily it is a short plane trip since the silence between them is starting to get to both of them.  Having gotten a blanket before the plane took off Alex leaned onto Matt’s shoulder clutching his arm throughout the trip.  Feeling her weight against him he remembers all of the other plane and bus trips they had taken to locations and how she always managed to fall asleep on him. 

_‘We’ve wasted so much time.  I don’t want to waste anymore.’_   He watched her rest vowing that they would never be apart again.  Even he knew that wasn’t possible as there would be location shoots, or times she needed to be with Salome but he hoped those days were few.  Now that he had her in his life he couldn’t fathom her not being.

As they were walking down the jetway into the terminal he could see how nervous she was.  Without thinking about it too much he threw an arm around her shoulder hauling her towards him and kissed her temple.  In a whisper, just for her, he said.  “Relax Kingston.  I’ve got you.”  This did seem to relax her.  It wasn’t much different than what he would have done before this weekend, it felt familiar and calming.  She smiled over to him.

No one seemed to notice them as they retrieved their suitcases from baggage claim and headed to the taxi stand.  The taxi dropped him off first at Karen’s before taking her to her place.  They were both reluctant to be separated but it had to be done this way.  She had to talk to Salome and Tom and it would be best if he wasn’t there, at least for one of those conversations.  He wanted to kiss her before the taxi pulled out but kept his restraint.  _‘When this is taken care of I won’t have to restrain myself ever again!’_   He consoled himself before turning to buzz Karen’s flat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	6. Mother-Daughter Bonding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In honor of Lady_Cleo's Birthday I thought I would post another chapter (a little early). I hope you don't mind.

After quickly stashing her suitcase in her bedroom she immediately heads over to Florian’s to pick up Salome.  Florian is a bit flustered at her as he had expected her hours ago and he has plans for the evening.  Apologizing she lets him know it couldn’t have been helped as there were plane delays.  Salome comes down with her weekend bag, kisses her dad on the cheek then heads to the car without acknowledging her mum.

“What’s that about?”  She asks as her eyes follow her uncharacteristically quiet daughter.

“Don’t know.  She’s been in a mood for the past couple of hours.  I wouldn’t worry about it.  She probably had another fight with Shaun again.”

When Alex raised an eyebrow in question he replied, “Apparently Shaun has a ’boyfriend’ and Salome is feeling a bit left out.”

“A boyfriend, already?”

He chuckles.  “Well I talked with her mum.  Apparently a ‘boyfriend’ at this stage is someone you Facebook to and put in your status update.”  She chuckled too.  “I wouldn’t worry too much about it.”

She said her good-byes to Florian.  As she walked to the car she wondered if she should have told him but it didn’t feel right telling anyone but Salome first.  Getting into the car she looks over to her sitting in the passenger seat staring out the window.

Alex doesn’t say anything having learned long ago that it was best to wait until she was ready to talk when she got into one of these moods.

They’re nearly to their house when Salome turns to her and asks, “So where is he?”

At first she is surprised from the break in silence, then the question itself.  “Who’s where?”  She asks confused.

“Your husband!”  Salome announces.

Alex hits the brakes, skidding the car to a halt.  Luckily they are on a quiet side street about three blocks from home.  “You know?”  With wide-eyes she looks over to Salome flabbergasted that she found out already.

“Yes Mother, I know!”  She spits eyeing her mum intensely.  Her arms are crossed over her chest and her legs are wrapped around each other.  She could not be more tightly wound if she tried. 

Alex wasn’t sure of how best to proceed.  She was so sure she could get to her in time and explain it …….somehow.  A horn honking from behind her reminds her that she had stopped in the middle of the street.  Without another word she turns back to the road and drives the remaining three blocks to their house.

Immediately Salome jumps out of the car running into the house.  The loud slam of the door let her know that she wasn’t going to make this easy.  Sighing heavily she gets out of the car and follows her into the house.  By the stomping of feet she can tell that Salome is in her bedroom. 

She drops her purse and keys on the side table at the door, toeing off her shoes as well.  With a heavy heart she heads up the stairs.  Standing outside of Salome’s room she steels herself for what is probably going to be the most difficult conversation of their lives.  She knocks but Salome doesn’t answer.  When she knocks the second time she opens the door anyways.  “Salome, we need to talk.”

“Do ya think?”  Salome mouths off to her.

“Alright, young lady that’s enough sass from you.  I’m still your mother!”  Alex took a deep breath and Salome did the same.  She crosses the room to sit on the bed next to her daughter.

When several minutes pass and Alex has still not spoken, Salome prompts her.  “So do you want to tell me how I got a new step-daddy?” 

She can hear the seriousness in her question but some of the anger seems to have dissipated.  She was grateful for that but where to begin.  “Well……I know this isn’t what you were expecting.”

“No, Mother it wasn’t.”  She couldn’t help but notice the formal ‘mother’ and the stiff way she spoke.  It reminded her of her own mother when she had gotten into trouble as a child.  If it weren’t for the circumstances she might have laughed.

Taking another deep breath she tries again.  “Salome I’ve known Matt for a long while now.  You have too.”  Salome nodded.  “Well we always had ‘feelings’ for each other but we never had the courage to tell each other about them.”  Unconsciously she rubbed the finger where her ring should be.  “This weekend we finally told each other.”

“Okay, so you told each other how you felt.  How does that jump to married in one weekend?”  She countered.

Alex couldn’t take the accusing look on her daughter’s face any longer jumping up to pretend to look out the window.  Maybe it would be easier if she didn’t have to face her.  “Salome, I know our decision was spur of the moment.  I love Matt.  He loves me.  We……we just wanted to be together and we didn’t really think about how that might affect everyone else.”  She continues to stare out the window as she talks.  “I know this is hard to hear.  It’s hard for me to say but I didn’t think of anyone else but Matt and I.  I know that was selfish but…………”  She wipes at the tears with trembling hands.  She’s never not thought of her daughter first from the moment she knew she was pregnant, well actually probably way before that.  It pains her to think she has hurt her in any way.

“Mum?”  Salome rests her hand on her mum’s arm and Alex finally turns away from the window to see her daughter look up at her.  “Mum, this isn’t about me.  (I know shocking since I think everything is.)”  A small smile forms at the corners of Alex’s mouth.  “This is about you.  You went to work for the weekend and came back married.  I mean who does that?”

“Apparently I do.”  She says quietly.

“Mum, come sit back down.”  She pulls her back over to the bed where they sit side-by-side.  “Were you guys even dating?”

“No.”  She shook her head.

“Had you ever dated?”

“No.”  She shook her head again.

“Not even back when you worked together on Who?”

“No.  I mean we went out as friends, all the time.  Sometimes Karen and Arthur were there but sometimes it was just Matt and I.  It wasn’t really dating just two friends doing stuff together.”

Salome bends her leg and turns more towards her mum.  “Like what?”

Alex wrinkles her nose.  “Like what what?”

“Like what kinds of things did you do together?”  She clarifies.

“Oh you know the usual friend stuff.  We’d go to dinner or lunch, go to the flower market, go shopping, stay at home and watch crap telly.  Just regular friend stuff.”  She reasons.

Salome doesn’t look convinced.  “How often?”

“How often what?”

She rolls her eyes at her mother.  “How often did you do things together?”

“Well, I don’t know it depended on what else was going on.  When I was on Who we probably did something every day.  I mean we lived right next to each other.  It was easy to go to each other’s flats, have dinner, just hang out.  If I was just in town filming for something else we’d try to get together for dinner if we could.  But I haven’t seen him much this past year since we both left Who.”

“Why?  Why is that?”  She prodded.

Alex looked up at her daughter and suddenly felt very self-conscious.  She scooted up on the bed leaning against the headboard rubbing her fingers.  She thought about not telling her but in the end she felt she needed to be honest with Salome if she was ever going to understand why she did what she did.  “After I left Who I thought I would most likely never see Matt again.  He still texted and occasionally called but I knew that our friendship would never be what it had been before.  It hurt.  I missed him terribly and it was during that missing him that I realized I would have to distance myself from him because it hurt too much.  So I barely returned his texts or his phone calls.  I hardly ever initiated any contact at all.  I thought I was or had let him go.”

“But you hadn’t?”

“Yeah, I know that now.”

“Mum, I don’t want to hurt you but…..but what about Tom?  You accepted his proposal.  You guys were planning a wedding.”

She rubs her hands over her face trying to hide from her daughter’s disappointed eyes.  “I know I did.  At the time I meant it.  I never thought Matt was a real possibility for me.  I’m so much older than him.  I didn’t think he ever thought of me in the way I thought of him.  I was moving on with my life.”

Salome listened to her mum but she was still having a hard time with this.  Alex watched as Salome tried to make sense of her mum’s choices.  “Can I ask you something, sweetie?”

Shook out of thoughts she looks back up to her mum, “Yeah, sure.”

“Do you not like Matt being married to me?”  She worries her bottom lip between her teeth as she takes in Salome’s body language as well as her answer.

Salome smiles, the first one Alex has seen all day.  “You know I’ve always loved Matty.  I’m sure he’ll be a great step-father………and husband”, she adds that last part.  “I just want to be sure you’re sure and that you’re not going to get hurt.”

Alex reaches out for her hand relieved that her daughter didn’t pull away.  “I know this was all very sudden, and not what anyone expected but Matt has always been my good friend.  He’s always treated me with kindness and respect.  The one thing in all of this that I am certain about is that he would never intentionally harm me.”

“So Mum, what about Tom?” 

She runs her fingers through her curls.  “Oh God!  I’m not looking forward to that conversation but I have to.  I owe him that much.  Do you think he knows too?”  Then she looks at her more inquisitively, How did you find out?”

“I’m surprised it’s taken you this long to ask.”  She snickers.  “Well since you were going to a Who convention I was searching the Internet to see if there was any news about the Doctor and River.  It showed up on a Tumblr blog.  I wouldn’t have believed it except the fan said that you had told them yourself as you and Matt were walking back to the hotel hand in hand.”

She rubs her temple as she tries to recall the particulars of that night.  _She remembers saying yes and them leaving the hotel in a hurry to find a chapel.  That wasn’t difficult as there was one at the end of the block.  They were greeted by a middle aged woman who took down their names and then directed them to the jewelry case when they admitted they didn’t have rings.  From there things moved at a fast pace as they were ushered before the officiate (thank god, he wasn’t an Elvis impersonator – probably more of a Vegas thing.)  They said their vows, signed the license, Matt tucked it into his jacket pocket, and then they skipped back to the hotel.  She remembers now there were a few girls waiting outside the hotel, probably for their ride to the airport.  They squealed when they saw the Doctor and River Song.  But so unlike them they walked briskly past them.  Alex turned saying, “Sorry girls, Matt and I just got married.  We’ve got a honeymoon to get to!”  She remembers hearing their high pitched squeals as they walked into the hotel lobby._

“Oh god, I did.  I remember now.”  She covers her eyes with her hand shaking her head back and forth.  “God, I am such an idiot.” 

“Mum, I’m sure it’s going to be alright.”  She tried to sooth.

Surprised that her daughter was trying to comfort her she peeked over her hand.  “Does that mean I’m forgiven?”  She pleaded.

Her daughter thought for a moment before answering.  “Mum, there’s nothing you’ve done to me that I need to forgive you for.”  A smile starts to form on Alex’s face.  “Now that doesn’t mean that I’m not still upset with you because I am, and Matt too.”  Her face falls back to the worried look she’s had since she walked in the house.  Salome crawls up to where her mum is leaning against the headboard.  “But I want you to be happy Mum.”  She wraps her arms around her mum while resting her head on her shoulder.

Alex wraps her arm around her daughter leaning against her curls glad that she’s not quite so angry with her anymore.  She’s not sure how long they held each other when she realizes she needs to try to get to Tom before he finds out as well.  “Sweetie.”  She turns to look at Salome.  “I think I better go talk to Tom now.”  Salome nods.  “Will you be alright here by yourself?”

“I’ll be fine.  I can microwave something for dinner.”

She hugs her daughter close, kissing her forehead as she parts.  “Thank you Salome.  I’m sorry that my choices have hurt you.”  Wiping her eyes she gets off the bed and heads for the door.  As hard as this conversation was she is dreading the next one even more.

“Um, Mum?” 

She turns back to her daughter, “Yes?”

“Where’s Matt?”

Her eyes widen at the question, “Um, he’s at Karen’s.  I…we didn’t think you’d be ready for him to be here yet.”

She nods in understanding.  “Ok, I get it.  Thanks.”

Alex heads back out of the bedroom and down the stairs.  Looking at herself in the foyer mirror she wonders what happened to the happy woman she had seen in the mirror that morning.  Sliding on her shoes, she picks up her keys and purse heading back out to her car.  As she drives she prays that Tom hasn’t heard anything yet.  Since he is not as into technology as Salome, that’s a pretty good possibility.  She hopes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	7. Scottish Screech

Karen had been expecting Matt hours earlier so when he buzzes her flat she gives him a hard time over the intercom.  “It’s about time you got here.”  He rolls his eyes as he pushes open the gate then heads up to her place.

He had made plans to stay with Karen when he originally planned to come to LA for the weekend.  At the time he was hoping to spend a little time with Alex.  Now he’s hoping he gets to spend all his time with Alex.  He can’t help but wonder how Karen will react to their news.

She’s waiting for him in her doorway when he gets off the elevator.  “You know for a Timelord, you have a terrible sense of time!”  She mocks.

“Oh, that was terrible Moonface!”  He retorts.

“Don’t call me that!” As soon as he is next to her she punches him in the arm.

“Oww!” He rubs his arm.

“Oh come here you big baby.”  She pulls him into a hug kissing his cheek as they part.  “Come on in.  We’ll get you settled.”  She leads him down to her guest room so he can put his bag down.  “It’s not much.” 

He waves her off.  “It’s fine.” He doesn’t let on that he probably won’t be staying after all.

“Take a few minutes to freshen up then meet me in the kitchen.  I picked up that Mexican beer you liked the last time you were here.”  Before he could reply she was already down the hall.  Sitting on the bed he takes a few minutes to consider all that has changed in his life in the past 24 hours.  Reaching into his pocket he pulls out his wedding ring.  It’s weird but he misses wearing it already.  “Hurry up, already!” He hears her yell from down the hall.

Pushing the ring back into his pocket he heads across the hall to the washroom.  “Just going to make a stop in the loo first.” He calls out.

When he makes it to the kitchen Karen has already downed half a lager already.  She hands him his then heads to sofa in the lounge.  “So how was the convention?  Anything fun happen?”

He was glad she wasn’t facing him yet as he isn’t sure he could have kept the look of delight off of his face.  Schooling himself he told her about some of the panels.  She laughed along with him at some of the questions the fans asked.  Now that he’d had at least half a lager he thought it a good time to start talking about Alex.

“Did you know Alex was going to surprise me at the convention?” 

“What!?!”  Her mouth gapping and her eyes wide let him know she did not.  “She what?”  Chuckling he relayed to her how she had convinced Steven to add her to the convention program.  “Oh my god, the Moff must have been ecstatic getting the both of you at the same convention.  So did you guys reveal anything embarrassing?  Oh god, you two are bad enough separately.  I can’t imagine the both of you on the same panel!”

Laughing he says, “That’s probably why Alex wouldn’t let us be on the same panels.”

“No?”  She sounded disappointed.

“No, so we didn’t have a chance to say anything to embarrass the other.” 

Karen pouts.  “But it would have been so much fun for Darvill and I to have something to mock the two of you about.”

“Well sorry to disappoint you.”  He snickers as he gets up to get another beer.  “You want another?”  She gives him a thumbs-up.

When he hands her her beer she asks, “So how was it seeing Alex again?”  Karen has long suspected how Matt has felt about Alex.  She’s endured his moodiness when she was gone and his giddiness when she was coming to set.  The flirting once she got there was nearly unbearable but she saw how happy it made her friend; besides it gave her and Arthur something to mock him about in her absence. 

He shifts uneasily in his seat trying to decide how to talk about this.  “It was good.  We…uh…. reconnected.”

Karen is giving him one of her looks.  The kind that says I know you’re not telling me something.  “So what are you _not_ telling me?”

“Huh?”  He’s intensely looking at the label on his beer.

“Oh my god!  You told her, didn’t you?”

He whipped his head up to stare at her.  “Told her what?”

“Oh don’t play innocent with me Smithers.  We all knew how you felt about Alex.  You followed her around like a little puppy and when she went back to LA it was like she took all your happiness with her.”

“Really?  I didn’t think I was that obvious.” 

Karen roars with laughter, holding her stomach she’s laughing so hard.  “Oh my god Smith, you are not that good an actor!”  He makes a face at her.  She’s calmed down now and is looking him over trying to discern how things went.  He’s giving nothing away.  “So what happened after you told her?”

He stared in her direction taking a pull on his lager, making her wait before he responded, “Totally married her!” 

Karen spewed her beer all over the coffee table.  “You what!?!”  He grinned back at her liking the affect his words had on her.  “There is no way you married Alex this weekend!”

He leans forward to look her in the eye, “You sure about that?  Cause I got a marriage certificate and a wedding ring that says otherwise.”  Grinning from ear to ear he leans back taking another pull on his beer.

She’s sure he’s putting her on.  _‘There is no way Alex married this idiot.  She’s engaged to Tom.’_  Staring at him he doesn’t break so she has no choice.  “Alright, I call your bluff.  Show me the marriage certificate.”

To her shock and amazement he pulls a folded paper from his jacket pocket.  When he hands it to her her eyes go wide still not believing this to be true.  Opening it she reads over their names and sees that the date was yesterday.  Staring back at him over the paper she whispered so quietly he almost didn’t hear her, “You got married yesterday?”  Then a little louder.  “You got married yesterday?  Really, properly married?”  By the end it was at a pitch only heard by dogs.

He howled at her reaction.  “Oh my god, you should see the look on your face!”  He was enjoying this way too much.

She jumped up waving the paper in his face.  “So what is this?  Some kind of a joke?” 

Gently he removed the paper from her hands, pressing out the creases then carefully folding it before putting it back in his pocket.  After he looked back in her direction, “No Karen, my marriage is not some kind of joke.  It’s real.”

Karen fell back onto the sofa not sure what to say next.  “But….”  She started but then stopped.  “She’s….”  Again stopped.  “You…”  “What the hell, Matt?”

“I didn’t think I’d see the day that Karen Gillian didn’t know what to say.”  He beamed.

It seemed like forever that the silence continued between them before she finally asked, “You are truly and properly married?”

He resumed his serious face in the hopes that she would believe him this time.  “Yes Karen, we are.” 

“Oh my god, you’re serious.  You guys got married.”  She takes a sip of her beer then decides that won’t do.  “Oh this conversation needs way more than lager.  I’m getting out the shots!”  She jumps up heading into the kitchen before he can protest.

Returning with a bottle of tequila, two shot glasses, a bowl of limes, and a shaker of salt she lines them up on the coffee table.  At this point he stops her hands with his and shakes his head.  “Karen I can’t.  I need a clear head about me.  You can if you want.”

She doesn’t try to change his mind thinking perhaps he has a point but she needs something stronger to process this bit of news.  After two shots she sits herself back onto the sofa and looks his way.  “Ok, Smithers I think you’re going to have to tell me how you managed to marry Alex Kingston.”

For the next few hours he told her all about their weekend, how they had gotten closer, and how they finally revealed their feelings for one another.  She was surprised that he had halted them several times remembering she had a fiancé.  In the end they decided to get married.

“So how is Alex feeling about this now that the day is bright and she is no longer drunk?”  She inquires.

He sits up as he talks about his wife _(his wife!)_.  “Alex is very happy, as am I.  She’s quite nervous about how her family, especially Salome are going to react to our news.”  He scrapes against the label on his bottle.  “It’s tearing her up what this will do to Tom.  She didn’t want to hurt him now she’s worried she may have hurt him worse.  This is not going to be an easy day for her.  That’s why I need to not be drunk.”  He places his beer bottle on the coffee table.  “She’s going to need me later.  I want to be there for her.”

“Wow, look at you being the responsible husband already.  Who would have thunk it?”  He shoves her with his foot and she giggles.

Just then her phone rings.  Picking it up off the table she is surprised, but then not really, to see whose calling.  “It’s Salome.”  She tells him before answering.  “Hi there granddaughter!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	8. The Hardest Conversation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So although I typically try to post on Saturday, this particular one was Valentine's Day. Now unlike lovelywordshenanigans whose romantic chapter happened to fall at just the right time.....this was the opposite. I could not lay this chapter on you when it was a day to celebrate romance and love.  
> I wish we could avoid this chapter entirely but it is necessary to move the story forward and some things must be faced no matter how painful they might be.

The closer she gets to Tom’s home the harder it is to quell her anxiety.  She tries to calm herself by observing the architecture of the homes on Tom’s street.  It’s a lovely, quiet neighborhood.  The homes are small bungalows, most built back in the 30’s.  At one time these homes housed the many who worked in Hollywood, both in front of and behind the camera.  Nowadays its residents had a variety of professions and backgrounds. 

Her and Tom had never gotten to the discussion of where they would live.  She wonders if he hoped she would move here with him.  Her home was larger but he seemed to have strong ties to this community and she imagines it would have been hard for him to leave.  _‘I suppose now he doesn’t have to.’_   She swallows the guilt as if it is acid.

Pulling into the driveway she sees Kayden’s bike sprawled across the lawn.  She shakes her head thinking of the many times Tom had asked her not to leave her bike out.  Kayden…..she was going to miss her too.  She’s a year younger than Salome but with a very different personality.  It was almost a surprise that her and Salome got along so well considering how opposite they had seemed. 

They were just starting to bond, just getting to know one another, as well as Kayden was just starting to trust her.  _‘Well I guess that is shot now too!’_   Taking a deep breath she picked up her purse and pushed herself out of the car.

Standing in the drive looking at his house she wanted to run, run as fast as she could, and never have to face Tom.  Despite the panic she kept her resolve and forced herself up the small stone walkway to his door.  With trembling hands she pressed the doorbell noting that there was no going back now.

Tom answers the door with a big welcoming smile on his face.  _‘Ok, doesn’t know yet.’_   She breathes an inner sigh of relief for that.  At least he will hear this from her, for whatever that is worth. 

“Alex, you’re back!”  He pulls her into a hug as soon as she steps inside.  It feels wrong having his arms around her.  She doesn’t deserve his kindness but he doesn’t know yet so she hugs him back.  Pulling back to meet her eyes, “I missed you.”  He then leans down kissing her.  Her brain was screaming at her.  She was being assaulted with thoughts of betraying Matt, of misleading Tom.  She tried to calm down by reminding herself that he doesn’t know that anything is different.  She’ll be breaking his heart soon enough.

When they part he looks at her oddly as if he could hear her warring thoughts outside of her head.  “How was the convention?”  He asks as he turns towards the kitchen to make tea.  It’s surprising how quickly this had become a thing for him as well.  As an American having tea with ….well, everything wasn’t his custom but he quickly took to it while dating Alex.

She followed him to the cozy kitchen in the back of the house.  As her eyes watched him put on the kettle, get out the cups, and decide on a tea she felt the panic fill her again.  She still had no idea how to tell him what she had done.  She did love him, he was a good man and he didn’t deserve this.

As they waited for the water to boil he looked in her direction wondering why she was being so quiet.  Something was wrong, different.  He could tell.  “So, ah the convention?  Everything go alright?”  He broke the silence since it seemed Alex wasn’t going to. 

Brought out of her thoughts she finally answered.  “Um, the convention?  Yes, everything went alright.”

The whistle on the kettle caused him to turn to shut it off.  “Any fun stories?” He brought the kettle to the cups pouring the hot liquid immediately filling the air with the aroma of tea.

“Um, well the usual really.  The fans seem to ask the same questions.  Honestly you would have thought they would be bored with me by now.”  She took the offered tea cup turning to look out at the back garden.  Inhaling the scent of the tea helped, it always did.  Turning towards him she gave him a smile. 

Coming beside her he tried to read her body language but was at a loss as to what it all meant.  “Shall we go sit on the back patio?”  He suggests.  Nodding she follows him out as he holds the French door for her. 

Holding her cup firmly with both hands she sits on the patio settee looking over his small back garden.  It wasn’t much to look at.  He didn’t have a need for flowers as she had.  The yard had a more masculine, single father look about it - sparse except for an oak tree in the back and a lemon tree near the patio. 

He watched her beginning to get a feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach.  _‘Something is wrong.’_   She wasn’t acting like she usually did around him and he couldn’t help but think he really didn’t want to know why.  But they couldn’t continue on in silence.  “Alex, what is it?”  Her eyes turned to his.  “What’s wrong?”

His face showed only concern, well maybe a bit of trepidation as well.  _‘He knows something’s different.  I have to….  I have to tell him.  Oh God!’_

She places her teacup on the table in front of them.  When she sits back on the settee she doesn’t make eye contact.  “Tom, I have something to tell you.”  He places his cup next to hers on the table giving her his attention.  He was always so considerate that way.  She can’t face him now however keeping her body at a slight angle away from him while focusing on her hands in her lap.  “Something did happen at the convention.”  She rubs her hands over and over again trying to find words that won’t completely hurt. 

“What happened Alex?”  He was being so thoughtful, his voice soothing.  She didn’t deserve his kindness.

“Um, well…you know that Matt was going to be there too, right?”

“Yes, you said the convention was about River and the Doctor.

“Yes, yes it was.  Well…..it’s just that Matt and I, we reconnected and things….um….”

Despite not looking at him she can feel him go still, almost forgetting to breathe.  “Alex?  What happened?”  His tone sounded sad, not angry as she was expecting.  It almost broke her more.

“um, well Matt and I reconnected and we ended up telling each other things we never had before.”  She sneaks a peak at him instantly wishing she hadn’t.  Already the pain of where this conversation is going is written on his face.  “I didn’t expect it, honestly I didn’t.  It’s just that first he said it then I did and then there was no going back.”

Silence engulfed the tiny patio.  Alex didn’t want to hurt him and he didn’t really want to know.  When he thought he had fortified his heart enough he braved to ask.  “So what exactly are you saying, Alex?”

Sneaking another glimpse his way revealed a man clinging to the hope that this wasn’t what he thought it was.  “Um, I’m saying that Matt and I said things to each other that we can’t take back, …..don’t want to take back, …..and that I never meant to hurt you.”  She finally faces him.  “I am so sorry.”  Her cheeks damp with tears.

A slow tear trickles down his cheek as the realization of her words settles on him.  “So you slept with him?”

She nods once keeping her head down eyes focused on her hands.  _‘God, this was killing her.  He didn’t deserve this.  Why hadn’t she talked to him before she left?  Why indeed!’_

Slowly he rose from the settee walking over to the edge of the patio where the lemon tree stood.  His arms crossed against his chest he seems to be quietly trying to process this.  She didn’t know what else to do.  There was nothing else to do but wait.

“So this is it?”  She almost hadn’t registered that he was talking.  He was still facing the tree with his back to her.

“What?”

Turning in her direction he repeated, “So this is it?  We’re done.  That’s what you’re saying isn’t it?”

“I never meant to hurt you.  I never thought he and I ever had a chance.  I would have never said yes to you if I did.  I would not have put you through this, I swear.”

“Of course.”  He was trying to be gentlemanly about all this but she could see that it was taking its toll on him.  “I think perhaps it would be best if you left now.”

She bobbed her head in agreement.  “I understand.”  She stood but didn’t turn to leave.  “There’s just one more thing you need to know.  I don’t want you to find out from anyone other than me.”

“What’s that?”  God, he seemed so sad.  She didn’t want to tell him but it wasn’t right for him to find out in some other way.

“Um, Matt and I……we, uh……we got married.”

His eyes grew incredibly wide upon hearing her words.  “You what???”  He exclaimed.

“We got married.”  She repeated quietly even though she wasn’t sure he really wanted to hear it again.

“I see.”  He responded stoically then turned away from her again.

She took that as her cue to leave walking towards the door leading to the house.  “I am so sorry.”  She added quietly before walking into the house.  After a few steps she turned back to see him one last time instantly wishing she hadn’t.  Thinking he was alone he finally broke down.  The last image she had of him was this strong, kind man sobbing at the base of his lemon tree.

Quickly she let herself out the front door to her car.  When she was several streets away she pulled over allowing the emotions of what had just occurred to take her fully.  She’s not sure how long she had sat there crying with the motor running.  The sun had gone down while they had been on the patio so she knew it was getting late.  She needed to get home to Salome. 

Scrubbing her face of tears she felt she had regained enough control to make the drive home.  She thought about Tom, Kayden, and Salome….the family they were going to be.  That dream was gone now.  As she drove on she thought about Matt, Salome and herself and wondered what kind of family they would become.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Complimentary tissues for all who have made it this far.
> 
> Also I know the real Tom is British but this was my one attempt to make him not the real guy Alex is engaged to. Lame attempt I realize but it allays the RPF guilt slightly.


	9. The Third Degree

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not posting sooner..........long week. I'm actually fairly brain dead so I hope this is ok. I thought I had left you with that difficult chapter log enough.

Just then her phone rings.  Picking it up off the table she is surprised, but then not really, to see whose calling.  “It’s Salome.”  She tells him before answering.  “Hi there granddaughter!”

“Hi Karen.  Is Matt at your place?”

She looks over to him.  “Yes.  Did you want to speak to him?”

“No, not right now.”  She shakes her head at Matt.  “So did he tell you?  About him and Mum?”

She gets up and walks into her bedroom.  “Yeah honey, he did.  How are you doing with that?”

“Not sure yet.  I mean I should be happy for her, shouldn’t I?”  She sits on the edge of the bed listening.

“Salome you don’t have to be anything.  How you feel is how you feel.  I’m sure your Mum, and Matt will understand.”

“It’s not……it’s not that I don’t like Matty.  I do.  It’s just this was all so sudden.  What if it ends just as quickly?  Then she’s going to be devastated.  I don’t want to have to worry about her like I did when she and dad broke up.”

“I know but for what it’s worth, I don’t think that’s going to happen.  I believe Matt genuinely loves your Mum and has for a long time.”

Salome is quiet on the other side of the line, thinking.

Finally she says, “She went over to talk to Tom.”

“Oh!”

“Yeah!  I’m a bit worried and I’m sad.  Tom was a nice guy.  He treated Mum well, and his daughter Kayden and I were getting along great.  I suppose she won’t want to have anything to do with me now.”  Karen could hear the hurt in her voice.  Who could blame her?  She was getting ready for one life change and then her mum completely changes the script.  It couldn’t have been easy even if she did like the guy her mum married.

“I’m sure everything will work out.  I mean it will be tense for a while but in the end…..in the end I think things will be fine,….more than fine.” 

Salome’s quiet for a while again, obviously thinking about what she’s said.

“Karen?”

“Yes?”

“I think I want to talk to Matty now.”

“Ok, I’ll go get him.”  She stands up ready to head back to the lounge.

“No, not on the phone.  Can you ask him to come over?  I think I want to see his face when we’re talking.”

Karen smiles in understanding.  “I get it.  I’ll send him over in a taxi shortly.  Would that be ok?”

“Yeah, thanks Karen.”

“Hey that’s what grandmum’s are for!”  Salome giggles and Karen relaxes at finally getting to hear her do so.   “Call me whenever you need to, ok?”

“Ok.”

“Alright, love you.”

“Love you too.”  She ends the call.  Taking a deep breath she walks back into the lounge.

As soon as he sees Karen he sits up and asks, “How is she?”

“Well….”  She comes to sit back down on the sofa.  “She’s still a bit confused….and worried.”  He raises his eyebrows at that last part.  “Apparently Alex went over to talk to Tom.”  He sucks in a breath.  “Yeah, so she’s worried about how that will turn out.  Also I guess her and Tom’s daughter, Kayden were getting close so she figures she’s lost her as a friend now.  And she’s worried that you two will call it quits as quickly as you said ‘I do’.”

The last part really gets his attention.  “But we won’t!”

“I’m not the one that needs convincing…………..oh and she wants to see you.”  She casually adds.

“She wants to see me?  Salome?”

“Yep, that’s the one!  Told her I’d put you in a taxi and send you on over.”

“By myself!”

Karen laughs heartily at that.  “Yes Smithers, by yourself!  You’re a big boy.  You can handle it.”

“But…..but Salome……she probably hates me and I don’t know what to say, and I don’t know……  Maybe I should wait for Alex.”

“Nope, don’t think so.”  Karen pulls out her phone pulling up her taxi app ordering a car for him. 

“But Karen…..”

“No, Matt!  You are not letting that little girl down.”  She doesn’t say the ‘again’ part but he hears it clear as day.  “She needs to talk to you and you need to give her answers that only you can give her.  You’re her step-father now….be one.”  The look on her face lets him know this wasn’t up for discussion.

Nodding he gets up.  “You’re right Karen.  I’ll just take a trip to the loo before the taxi arrives.”  He turns heading back to the guest room.  Pulling his toothbrush out of his bag he heads into the washroom.  It occurred to him that it might be best not to smell of alcohol when they talk. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The entire taxi ride over he thought about what he should say to her.  As the car pulled in the drive, he still had no idea.  He’d been thinking about Alex too, worrying about how difficult it had been to talk to Salome and now Tom.  Paying the driver he made his way up the stairs.  He was staring at the doorbell when Salome opened the door startling him.  “Hi Matty.”  Her voice didn’t contain any of the exuberance it normally did when she greeted him and it crushed his heart to think he was responsible for that.

“Hi Poppet.  Can I still call you that?”  He was more nervous than he ever was for an audition.  This seemed like the most important audition of his life.

“Yeah, I suppose.”  She stepped forward wrapping her arms around his waist in a quiet embrace.  He held her for what seemed like a long time not wanting to break the moment.  His fingers involuntarily began to play with her curls like he did her mother’.  Finally she pulled back, “Come in.  I made tea.”

Following her to the kitchen he could see the tea service already prepared and on a tray.  “If you wouldn’t mind could you carry it to the lounge?”

“Of course.”  He took the tea in sitting it on the coffee table.  Salome followed him sitting next to him on the sofa.  They remained quiet while they prepared their tea.  Matt wasn’t sure what he should say, so he thought it best to let her lead the conversation.  So he waited.

After a couple of sips she began.  “So you and my mum got married?”

“Yes, we did.” He says quietly but firmly.

She cocks her head at him.  “Are you happy about that?”

He couldn’t help but remember his mum asking him the same thing.  “Absolutely!  I am over the moon.”  His face lit up with how happy he was.  Looking to her, he could see the worry there.  “Are you happy about it?”

She sat her tea cup down looking at her fingers rolling them over the others before answering.  “I don’t know yet, Matty.  I’m sorry but I’m trying to be honest with you.  This is all so fast.  I mean when was the last time we even saw you?”  She looks up at him now.  “When was the last time you saw Mum?”

“The last time I saw your mum was when she filmed her last episode of Who.”

She thought for a moment, obviously calculating.  “Matt that was over a year ago!  You don’t see each other in a year and the first thing you do is get married?!?”

“Well not the first thing…..”  She gives him an intense look stopping him when he was trying to make light of this.  He puts his tea cup back on the tray, sitting up closer to her.  “Ok Poppet, you deserve better than that.”  She nods in agreement.

“The truth is I’ve loved your mum for a long time, a very long time.  I just never told her.  I was so afraid that she didn’t feel the same way that I was afraid to tell her.  I didn’t think she’d want to be friends with me knowing how I felt.  So I never said anything.”

“Is that why you always wanted to be around her?”  She asks.

A slow smile forms on his mouth.  “Yeah, it was.  I was willing to do anything so I could be near her.  I would even get up at dawn in the freezing cold to go to the flower market with her…..on a Sunday.”  Salome giggled reminded of how her mum loved to get fresh flowers to brighten her place for the week and how Matt would tag along looking half-asleep the whole time.

“I always thought you only came for the promise of breakfast at that French pastry shoppe when we were done.”  She teased.

“Well that was pretty good but really I came for the company, Alex and you.”  He bopped her on her nose as he said it; she giggled.

Her face turned serious again.  “But Matt she was happy with someone else.  Why now?”

“Salome that is something you need to talk to your mum about.”  She crosses her arms and stares him down.  “No look this isn’t me trying to get out of anything but I can’t speak for your mum’s happiness with Tom.  Only she can answer that.”

“Ok, fair enough but why did you guys get married in such a hurry?”

“I know that is a reasonable question.  I just don’t know if I can explain it in a way that will make sense to you but I’ll try.  After we both confessed our feelings to one another it was like we couldn’t wait to be together.  It was as if no one else on the planet existed except for the two of us.  When I asked her to marry me I wasn’t expecting that she would say yes but when she did I didn’t want to waste a second.”

“In case she changed her mind?”

“Um…well…yeah.”  Damn this kid was perceptive.

She looks at his hand as he nervously runs it through his hair.  “So if you’re married, why don’t you have a wedding ring?”

He brings his empty hand down to look at it.  “Well I do.  I just didn’t think I should wear it until we told everyone.”

“Can I see it?”  Her eyes light up.

“Sure”, He digs it out of his front jean pocket.  Holding it between his fingers he hands it to her.  After looking it over she seems to be satisfied that it is genuine and hands it back to him. 

As he starts to put it back in his pocket she stops him.  “You should put it on.”  When he looks over to her she adds, “Isn’t that what married people do?”

He smiles feeling like she’s accepting him, even if just a bit.  He slides the ring on his left hand admiring how it looks and the tugging in his heart as to how it makes him feel.

They spend the next hour talking about the things they have missed in each other’s lives in the past year.  She had just suggested that they play a board game when they hear the key in the front door.  They both tense up wondering what state Alex would be in after talking with Tom.  He’s at least glad that he is here.  Without admitting it, Salome is glad he is here too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	10. Thank You for Knowing I Needed You Even When I Didn’t Say

Pushing her key into the lock Alex can’t help but feel that it weighs ten times heavier than usual.  Everything seems so hard.  She knew it was going to be hard to tell Tom but nothing really prepared her for the reality of it.

She hopes that Salome isn’t in a mood to fight with her because she’s sure she doesn’t have the energy for it.  Entering the house she drops her purse and keys on the table, tossing her shoes underneath.  Leaning on the table she looks at herself in the hanging mirror.  Her eyes are red and her cheeks stained from the flow of tears.  _‘God, I look like hell.  I’m glad Matt’s not here to see me.’_

Dragging herself from the mirror she heads to the lounge intent on curling up on the sofa.  She was not expecting to see Salome and Matt staring at her when she entered.

At the sight of her his heart is in his throat.  _‘God, that must have been gut-wrenching for her.’_   Instantly he’s off the sofa pulling her into an embrace as soon as he gets to her.  She clings to him as if he is her lifeline, and at this moment he might be.  Holding her tight he strokes down her hair alternating between kissing her temple and muttering assurances into her ear.  “I’ve got you Alex.”  “I’m right here.”  “It’s going to be alright, I promise.”  “I love you.”

Salome stayed on the sofa watching them.  She’s spent a lot of time with Matt and her mum before.  At this moment she’s struck with how this doesn’t seem that unusual.  They were always giving each other hugs, and holding each other.  _‘Did they always love each other?’_  

She couldn’t help feeling as if there had always been something unsaid in the room when they were together before.  Looking over towards them seeing him tenderly comfort her and seeing her mum accept it so readily it was obvious that it had been said.  Even if she didn’t quite believe her mum or Matt when they told her she could see with her own eyes the love they had for one another.

Decision made she walks across the room bringing her arms around the both of them.  Alex is a little startled to feel her daughter’s arms but grateful for them none the same.  Reaching around she hugs her too.  After a few minutes Salome lifts her head, “Mum I think I’m going to bed.”

Alex nods at her kissing her forehead.  Matt pulls her towards him so he can kiss the top of his curls.  “I’ll see you in the morning.”  She tells them before heading up the stairs to her room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When she is safely out of earshot he asks, “So do you want to tell me about it?” 

“No.  Yes……I don’t know….maybe.”  He chuckles at her indecision.

“Ok, since you’re sure.”  He teases her.

Pushing off his chest she levels him with a look letting him know she is not in the mood for teasing.  “Yes, I do but not right now.  No, not now…..I can’t.  Can you accept that?”  She looks up to him hoping he can understand how difficult this has been for her.

“I do, Kingston”, (he silently chuckles inside of his head as he remembers saying those exact words to her just the night before).  “Why don’t you go settle on the sofa and I’ll make more tea.”

When she turns she spies her tea service on the table and for the first time realizes he had not just arrived.  “Darling, what are you doing here?  I thought we agreed that I would call you when you could come over.”

“We did.”  He can’t help himself stealing a kiss from her.  “But you see Salome tracked me down at Karen’s and insisted I come over for a ‘talk’.”

“Oh god!”, She was beginning to feel sick to her stomach.  This day had just been too much.  From the high of waking up in his arms this morning to the low of watching as Tom’s heart broke in two she was plain wrung out.

“Let me go make you some tea.”  He gestured for her to go sit down but she shook her head.

“No tea.”  She held her stomach.  “Not right now, I don’t think I can.”  As she turned to go to the sofa Matt wasn’t sure what he should do so he stayed where he was.  When she realized he wasn’t following she turned back to him and asked, “Darling would you hold me?”

His face split into a grin.  “Always.”

They settled onto the sofa.   Her back pressed against his chest, his arms surrounded her helping her to feel that she wasn’t going to fall apart at any minute.  He didn’t ask.  He knew she would tell him when she was ready.  Besides this was private between her and Tom; he didn’t really need to know the particulars.  For now he could be there for her to help her through it.

He held her listening to her quiet cries, kissing her curls to try to take away the pain.  It wasn’t long before she had fallen asleep content in the thought that despite how difficult this day may have been Matt was there for her.  Not long after Alex, Matt joined her inwardly smiling as he held the woman he had love for years now in his arms.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That is where Salome finds them the next morning.  They look so happy and peaceful she hates to wake them but then somebody has to drive her to school.  “Mum?  Mum?”  She shakes her a bit.  Startled awake her eyes go wide at the sight of Salome standing before her completely ready for school including backpack.  “Sorry to wake you Mum but I have to get to school.”

“Of course.  I’ll be right there.”  Salome heads to the car while Alex rouses herself.  Matt wakes as she moves away from him.

“Hey, where you going?  Come back.”  He mumbles half-asleep. 

She turns to him seeing him with his eyes at half-mast, his hair sticking up in all directions, and he is the most adorable thing she has ever seen.  It would be impossible for her to not feel her heart bursting with love for him at this moment but mummy duty calls.  Giving him a quick kiss she says, “Sweetie, I need to take Salome to school.  Go back to sleep…..or better yet go crawl in bed.  This sofa couldn’t have been very good for your back.  I’ll be back soon.”

With another quick kiss she goes to the foyer grabbing her keys, purse and sliding into her shoes.  He hears the door click behind her and a moment later the car engine start.  Now that she brought it up his back was a little achy.  Getting up he stretched before heading up the stairs. 

Walking to her bedroom it seemed odd to be here without Alex.  He’s been to her room before carrying her luggage or helping her get something from an upper shelf but …………..  He opened her double-bedroom doors wide as he walked in.  This was a wonderful master suite.  It was spacious with all the personal touches that reminded him of Alex. 

He should have been more surprised than he was when he noticed a framed photo of her and him with Karen and Arthur sitting next to a framed photo of Salome.  In some respect he had always been family to her, just as she was always family to him.    

Looking towards the bed he can picture Alex lying in it.  That makes him smile.  The bed seems way too big for one tiny woman.  It looks to be even larger than a king size bed.  Layered in silky cottons he sinks into it.  The pillows reminding him of a luxury hotel he stayed once in France.

He was nearly asleep when he felt the bed dip on her side.  Automatically his arms reached for her bringing her close to him.  He nuzzled his face in her hair as they settled in the middle of the bed.  Quickly, they both drifted back into sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	11. It’s Called Marriage

It was several hours later when he woke to warm lips on his then kisses along his jaw and neck.  Slowly she worked up to his earlobe where she whispered “Good morning.” 

He rolled to his back pulling her with him, his arms secure around her back.  Smiling at her he pulled her flush with his body immediately capturing her lips in his.  “Good morning.”  He whispered back as his hands slid down to her backside.  It was then that he realized she wasn’t wearing her trousers any longer as his hands came in contact with skin. 

Her small hands were stroking across his abdomen pushing up his shirt so that her lips had access following the trail lead by her fingertips.  She wanted him……no, she needed him.  She needed him like she needed air to breath.

“Too many clothes.”  Alex hissed at him as her hands slid under his shirt scraping her fingers across his chest.  Pushing it up she forces him to raise his arms so she can pull it off.  “Better.” She smirks as she moves her kisses down his neck nipping along his chest stopping to lavish attention to his nipple.  He felt alight at each point of contact whether it be her lips, or her fingers but he needed more. 

Pushing out all other thoughts of these past twenty-four she thought only of him, him and her.  Yes, that is what she needed, to forget that the rest of the world existed and live only for him.  He readily responded to her touch allowing his own hands to find his way beneath her shirt.  As his fingertips came in contact with her skin it was like he could feel their connection pulse through him.  He was about to undo her bra when her lips reached the edge of his jeans.  “Why are you still wearing your jeans?”  She questioned while looking up at him.  Quickly she undid his button and zipper then slid to the side so he could push them off.

Grinning at her he kissed her passionately.  “Matt, I need you.”

“I’m here, always.”  Their lips ignite their passion as their skin molds into the other. 

The press of his hard member into her stomach inspired her.  Trailing her lips down his body she tugged his pants off springing forth his hardened cock.  With a wicked gleam in her eye she took him within her lips swirling her tongue around the tip.  He couldn’t help but to reach for her feeling her curls between his fingers.  Her nails left faint scratches against his balls nearly causing him to let go. 

Releasing him she smirked at his gasp of frustration.  Crawling up his chest she pressed her slick core against him making him want her all the more.  His body responded arching into her watching her every move.  Slowly she rose above him sinking down on him.  Immediately his hands went to her hips guiding her against him. 

Looking up at her he loved seeing the look of want on her face for him and the joy that they gave one another.  Soon her movements became erratic and he knew she was close.  Reaching between them he found her throbbing clit flicking it quickly with his fingers.  Her hands pressed hard into his chest with her face nearly touching his.  “Come for me Alex, come for me.”  He begged and she complied.

No sooner did her orgasm start to wash over her then did he flip her onto her back continuing to thrust within her.  Finding her lips he kissed her between gasps until he too found his release.  Completely spent he fell against her chest before moving to her side. 

Instinctively he wraps his arms around her and she him.  They hold each other.  She nuzzles into his chest as he kisses through her curls unable to hold back his smile.  “I love you.” 

Lifting her head she can’t help but smile back.  “Darling, I love you too.”  His grin goes even wider leaning over kissing her soundly.  Laying back against his chest she lets out a contented sigh. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few minutes pass before either of them speaks.  With his arms tightly around her he asks, “So how did things go yesterday?”

Rising up against his chest she gives him a disappointed look.  “Do we have to?”

He reaches for a stray curl tucking it behind her ear as he takes in her beautiful face.  Softly he says, “As much as I would like to pretend that you and I are all that matters I know that isn’t exactly true.”

“No.  It isn’t.”  She lays her head back down on his chest.  The room is still with quiet, only their individual breathes to be heard.  When he began to wonder if he should say something she started while continuing to lie on his chest.  “Salome was pretty upset with me.”

“Oh?”  He lightly stroked her curls with his fingers.

“Yeah, she knew already when I picked her up.”  Her voice slightly muffled by his chest.

“What??  How did she find out?”

She gives him a look.  “How else?  The Internet, specifically Tumblr.”

“Oh!  I’m so sorry Alex.”

“Not your fault, apparently I announced to those fan girls in front of the hotel that we were married.”

He had to think back to what she was talking about.  In no time the memory returned.  He had been so enthralled with marrying Alex he hadn’t really paid attention to what she had said to them.  “Oh, I forgot about them.”

She tightens her hold on him.  “So how mad was she?”           

“Oh pretty mad.  I think she’s fairly confused about all of this, as well.  I suppose it will take some time for her to adjust.”  She moves slightly against his chest.  “She liked Tom….and his daughter, Kayden.

He nodded kissing against the top of her head.

Muffled as she tried to bury herself further into his chest he heard.  “What did she say to you?” 

He takes a few moments to think about his conversation with Salome before answering.  “She mostly wanted to know how I felt about you.  Yeah, she sounded surprised that we had gotten married so quickly especially since it had been so long since we had seen each other.  I think…..”  He stroked her back as he talked.  “I think she’s worried that we will break up too.”

He doesn’t let on that he is worried about the same thing.  He knows he loves Alex and he believes she loves him but this isn’t going to be easy for her.  He’s worried she may decide he is way more trouble than he’s worth.

She kisses his chest softly.  “Is that what you want?”  Her voice calm, nearly resigned to the fact that now that he has her that he won’t want her….like all the others.

“What??  No, God no.”  He adjusts himself and her so they are looking into each other’s eyes.  “Alex, I meant everything I said.  I love you.  I have loved you for a long time.  I can think of nothing more that I want than to make a life with you.”  He pecks her lips, his arms wrapped tightly around her.

“It won’t be easy.”  She reminds him.

“Nothing worth having ever is.”  He assures her then loses his own confidence.  “Unless you wanted to …to..”

“No!  No darling, I don’t.  I wish this didn’t have to be so public so soon and I wish no one was hurt because of our choices but loving you, being married to you…..  It might be selfish but I want it, so much.”

Tightening his arms around her, “Then I must be selfish too.”  Leaning into her he kisses her savoring the taste of her on his tongue.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“We probably should get up.  What time is it?”  Looking over at the clock she sees that it is nearly 10.  “I still have to call my parents.  I’m sure that’s going to go well.”  Sitting up she rubs her face contemplating how that phone call will go.

He sits up behind her rubbing her back in small circles.  “So what are you expecting from your parents?”

“Probably disappointment.  They were apprehensive enough when I told them I was getting married a third time to Tom but this is going to be a shock to say the least.” 

“Kingston, do you love me?” 

She turns to him with a wondering look.  “You know I do.  Of course I do.  Why would you ask me that?”

“Then that’s what matters.  Tell them that.  Let them know how happy we are.  I know this is going to be an adjustment for some but make sure they know that no matter what we love each other.  Ok?  Promise me that?”

She leans towards him their foreheads connecting.  “I will.  I promise.  God, I love you.”  She leans in kissing him once more before heading to the shower.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pulling on his jeans and tshirt he heads downstairs to make them tea.  As he gets the kettle started his phone buzzes.  It’s a text from Karen:

_‘So you didn’t come back.  Is everything ok?  I’m heading out.  Should I drop your bag by Alex’s?’_

He quickly sends her off a reply:

_‘Sorry I didn’t let you know what was happening.  It was….. Tell you when you stop by.  Yes, please I could really use my bag.  Thank you.’_

He had just managed to sit down at the table with his cuppa when the doorbell rang.  He could hear the shower still running so he knew Alex couldn’t answer the door.  ‘Who could be at the door?  Should he answer it or will that just cause more problems?’  A few minutes later he had his answer when his phone buzzed again:

_‘Answer the damn door stupid face!’_

He laughed when he realized that it was Karen ringing the doorbell.  Quickly he let her in taking his bag from her sitting it at the bottom of the stairs.  “Thanks Kaz.  Sorry about not answering the door.  I couldn’t be sure who was there and I didn’t want to make things any harder for Alex than they already are.”

“So things didn’t go well yesterday?”  She asked concerned.

Listening upstairs he thinks she may have finished her shower so he leads Kaz to the kitchen.  “Salome is having a hard time with us marrying so quickly.  I guess she laid into Alex pretty good yesterday and she gave me the third degree as well.”

“Yeah, I got the impression from talking with her yesterday that this might take her a little while to adjust to.”

He’s running his hands through his hair as he thinks about his poppet.  “Do you think she ever will?”

Karen looks a little surprised by his question.  “Matt you need to give her a little time.  This is a lot to absorb.  It would have been enough if the two of you would have just come back married but she thought her life was going into an entirely different direction.  But she adores you Matt and her mum.  Just give her a little time.  I think she’ll come around.”

“Thanks Kaz.”  He pulls her into an embrace glad that she’s here.

Stepping away she walks over to the counter pouring herself a cuppa before turning to him.  “So how did her telling Tom go?”

He takes a deep breath.  “Well she wouldn’t tell me anything and I suppose I understand why.  That was private between her and him.  It really isn’t my business to pry but she was pretty torn up when she got back.  I’m glad I was here.”  She nods in understanding.

“So husband and step-father, how does it feel?”  She changes from the heavy topic to tease him.

He breaks out into a grin.  “It feels fantastic!  I mean even with Salome mad at me I love that I can be a part of her life now.  Being married to Alex is a dream……it’s a dream Kaz, one I never thought I’d get to have.”

A few minutes later their conversation is interrupted when he hears Alex speaking loudly in German.  He can’t make out what she’s saying as his German is limited to about ten words but it is obvious that she’s not happy.  “Um excuse me Karen, I think Alex might need me.  It sounds like her phone call with her mum is not going so well.”  She nods as he grabs his bag at the bottom of the stairs and quickly makes it to the second story.  Just as he is entering her bedroom she ends the call and tosses her phone onto the bed.

She’s pacing frantically back and forth next to the bed oblivious that he is even there.  He tries to make out her incoherent rambling but its part German and part English so he has no hope but her body language lets him know that her mum did not take it well.  Without words he comes behind her pulling her into his chest.  Startled she at first goes rigid then relaxes into his embrace glad of the comfort.  After placing a light kiss to her neck he asks, “So it didn’t go well?”

Sinking further into his arms she huffs out a breath.  “No, I would say it didn’t go well at all.  Apparently I am too flighty and impulsive for my own good.”  He tightened his embrace.

“I’m sorry Alex.  We’ll just have to change their minds by being gloriously happy for a ridiculously long time!”  She laughed at his attempt to cheer her up.  He turned her in his arms kissing her then resting his forehead against hers.  “You know, I actually mean that.  I think we’re going to be happy for a long time.  Then everyone will see what we already know.”

“What’s that darling?”  Her eyes pierce his.

“That we were made for each other.”  He kisses her again, this time more passionately.  As her hands start to roam he steps back.  “Um sorry love but we have company downstairs.”

Her eyes widen.  “We do?  Who?” 

“Your other mummy!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	12. Oh Mummy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you don't mind this chapter so soon. I felt bad I missed an update last week and well...... I just felt like it. Enjoy!

Alex heads downstairs as Matt hops into the shower.  As she reaches the bottom step she takes a deep breath wondering if she is going to have to defend herself with Karen as well.

Karen is sitting at the breakfast bar sipping her tea when Alex enters the kitchen.  “Hi Karen.” 

She shakes her head as she hears Alex’s voice.  “Oh hi, sorry, off in my thoughts.”

“No, I’m sorry.  I just found out you were here.  I’m sure Matt didn’t mean to leave you down here all on your own.”  She pours herself a cuppa coming over to where Karen is seated.  “It’s just talking to my mum can be……challenging under the best of circumstances.  Apparently this wasn’t the best of circumstances.”  She stops, trying to determine how Karen is adjusting to their news.

“I assume Matt told you.”  She asks around her teacup.

“Yeah, he did.”  She answers sounding distracted by something.

“Karen?”  She quizzes.

Shaking out her thoughts she looks back to Alex.  “No, he did.  I was just wondering why you didn’t?”

“Why I didn’t?  Karen, this is the first I have seen you.”

“No, I mean that day in the tea shoppe.  You knew then, didn’t you?  When you said Tom wasn’t the one.  You were thinking of Matt?”

Taking a deep breath, Alex places her cup on the counter.  “Karen, it wasn’t that simple…….at least I didn’t think it was.”  She runs her fingers through her hair.  “I didn’t think…..I never thought…..I was sure he didn’t…..”

Karen reaches over taking her hands in hers.  “You didn’t think he would love you back?”

Her hands still she stares at them.  “Yeah.”

Alex’s eyes go wide as Karen lets out a loud laugh.  When Alex narrows her eyes at her she finally explains.  “Oh Alex, you must have been the only person in all of Cardiff who _didn’t_ know Matt was in love with you!”

“What???”  She is genuinely confused.

“Alex can you honestly tell me you didn’t notice how much he flirted with you?”

“He flirted with everybody.

“Not like he did with you.  With you it was serious.  I’m surprised the two of you never ran off from one of our parties to shag like rabbits.  The eye-sex between you two was off the charts!”

“Eye-sex?  Now you are making stuff up.”

“Oh really?  Ask Darvill or the Moff or poor Babs.”  Alex scrunches her face in question when she mentions Babs, the seventy year old make-up artist.  “She was so broken-hearted when she realized she had lost Matt to a ‘younger woman’.”

At the term ‘younger woman’ Alex starts to laugh and can’t nearly stop.  When Matt hops down the stairs he enters the kitchen to find both Alex and Karen laughing their heads off.

“Well this is a sight better!”  He announces as he strides over to make himself a cuppa.

They spend the next half hour chatting with Karen before she excuses herself to continue her errands. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After she leaves he mentions that her phone kept ringing from where she had left it on the bed.  Despite not meaning to pry he couldn’t help noticing that the calls were from Nicola.  “Oh I’m sure Mum didn't even put the phone down before calling my sister to give her the news.  Well I suppose I should call her back before she gets herself too wound up.”  She lifts up on her toes to give him a kiss before walking to the stairs.

“Um Alex?”

“Yes?”

“Would it be alright if I used your laundry?  I seem to have run out of clean clothes.”

She snickered because Matt never packed enough for the trips he took.  “Matt, of course you can.  This is your home too.”  As she began to answer him she realized there was much more to the question than either of them realized.  “Um, I guess we never talked about that.  Where are we going to live?”

Within two steps he had his arms around her reassuring her.  “Alex, I am sure we will work all that out in time.  For now you have a place here in California and I have a place in London.  So I suppose we will live in both depending on where we need to be.  How does that sound?”

She beamed back at him.  “It sounds perfect.  You’re perfect.  God, I love you.”  She crashes her lips against his letting him know how much.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He followed her upstairs to retrieve his soiled laundry then left her to speak to her sister in private.  She wasn’t sure how her phone call with Nicola would go.  Nicola was the only person she ever voiced her feelings about Matt to so this shouldn't have been as much as a surprise as it was to her mum.  But Nicola liked Tom and she liked Alex with Tom.  With great trepidation she pushed her number hoping for the best.

“It’s about time you called me back.  What the hell Alex?  You eloped?  With Matt?  When did that even become a possibility?   You have so been holding out on me!”  Nicola was going non-stop not letting Alex get a word in edgewise.  She knew it was best to just wait her out.

When it appeared she was finished with her tirade Alex asked, “You done?  Ready for me to talk now?”

The returning silence gave her her answer.  “Ok, so yes I married Matt.  No, it wasn’t planned.  It was very spur-of-the-moment.  I didn’t tell you it was a possibility because I didn’t ever believe that it was.  But I am very happy.  We are very happy….in case that matters at all.”  She stopped waiting for a response.

“Alright, I am still trying to understand this.  How did you and Matt get together?”

“We were in Reno for a Who Convention.  As the weekend unfolded we started to talk to each other about things…..about our feelings.  We wanted to be together but Matt kept bringing up Tom.  He didn’t want our first time together to be an affair so we decided to get married.”

“Wait……what?  You wanted to shag but you didn’t want to be unfaithful so you got married??  Is that really a good reason to start a marriage?”

Alex rolled her eyes wishing she didn’t have to explain to everyone something that was really none of their business.  “Nicola it’s way more than that.  Matt and I truly love each other.”

“Of course you do.  That’s what you said when you married Ralph…and again when you married Florian.  Look how well those worked out?  At least with those you put more than five minutes thought into it before jumping into marriage.”

“I thought you liked Matt?”  Alex barked back.

“I do but I liked Tom too.” Nicola shot back, then softer.  “What about Tom, Alex?”

A bit more humbly, “I told Tom, he knows.  I loved Tom.  He was a lovely person.  He just wasn’t the one I wanted to spend my life with.  I just didn’t think that the one I did would want to spend it with me.”

Alex was surprised by the quiet on the other end of the line.  “Nicola?”

“Just thinking Alex.  I think you are a little nuts right now.  Maybe its hormones or endorphins from all the sex I’m sure you’re having but nobody runs off and gets married and lives happily ever after.  No matter how much you want it.”

“Well then I guess we’ll have to prove you wrong.”

“I guess you will.”

“Nicola, I need to get going.”

“Yeah, me too.  Alex, for what it’s worth….I hope I’m wrong.  I love you.”

“I love you too…..and you are wrong.”

“Of course.  Bye Alex.”

“Bye.”

Sitting there on the edge of the bed with her phone cradled in her hand she thinks about her sister’s words.  She was the one person she thought would have been on her side.  Feeling a bit defeated she decides to go look for Matt as he always brightens her moods.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stopping at her dresser she fluffs her curls in the mirror.  As her eyes drop to the dresser top she sees her engagement ring…..Tom’s engagement ring.  Picking it up she remembers the day she accepted it from him.  Even then she had a feeling of being unsure but at the time she thought it was the idea of a third marriage.  Reverently she places the ring back down wishing she didn’t have to hurt one man to be happy with another.  She knows she will need to give that back to him one day but she thinks she has hurt him enough for now…..it can wait.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**


	13. They Know!

When she reaches the bottom step she can hear Matt talking to someone on the phone.  He’s using his business voice so she knows it’s not a friend or family.  When he sees her he quickly finishes up.  “Well it’s out there.”  He says as he approaches her in the hall.

“What do you mean?”  She looks confused.

“That was my publicist.  There is already a rumor on the fan sites that we are married.  He’s been contacted by five different news agencies for confirmation.  Our wedding announcement will be posted later this afternoon.  He’s going to coordinate the time with your publicist.”  She walks into his arms.

“So it begins.”  She breathes out.

“Yeah but I think we got to tell everyone before at least.”  He kisses her temple.

She mumbles, “Except Salome.”

“Yeah, except Salome.”  He corrects himself solemnly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As if on cue Salome comes in the front door slamming it behind her.  Alex is startled away from Matt’s chest and turns to stare at her daughter.  She is alarmed to see the anger on her face wondering how much of that is directed at her.  “I hate Shaun.  She is so stupid.  She doesn’t know anything.  I just hate her.”  With that pronouncement she stomps up the stairs ending with a slam of her bedroom door.

Turning back towards Matt, “It looks like a girl needs her mum.  I’ll try not to be too long, darling.”

“Take all the time you need.  I’m not going anywhere.”  She smiles back at him (actually) believing him.  As she turns to climb the stairs he asks, “Would you mind if I started supper?  I’m a bit peckish.” 

“Oh god, sweet words, sexy as hell, and he can cook!  I’m definitely keeping you!!”  She radiates a smile his way.

He leans over the banister pecking her a kiss.  “Good to know!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When she gets to Salome’s door she listens to try to determine the mood before entering.  All she can make out is a fast pounding from her speakers, the words unintelligent.  _‘So pretty angry then.’_ She knocked but at the current volume she knew she would never be heard so she went in anyways.

Laying in the middle of her bed with her arms wrapped around her stuffed penguin was Salome.  As she stared at the ceiling it seemed she was trying to let the music beat her mad from her.  One look at her cross face said it wasn’t working. 

When she shut off the music Salome only raised her head for a moment before flopping back down on the bed with a huff.  Alex sat on the edge near the bottom resting against the bed post.  “So do you want to tell me about it?”

“Noooooo.”  She heard from beneath a stuffed penguin.

“It might make you feel better.”  Her mum tried again.

“Maybe but it might make you mad too.”  This put Alex instantly on guard.  _‘What could this be about?’_   She had thought this was about Shaun having a boyfriend like Florian had said.

In a light lilt she said, “Now you have to tell me or I might die of curiosity.” 

She saw a faint smirk beginning on her daughter’s mouth as this familiar game that they played ended the way it always did with her telling her mum everything.  She told her how Shaun had found out about her and Matt getting married.  Then apparently Shaun went on to say that her mum was too old for Matt.  The final straw was when she labeled her mum a ‘cougar’.

Alex had expected this….from the press….. _not_ from her daughter’s best friend.  She had to think before answering because her first thoughts were not fit for her daughter’s ears.  Something occurred to her as she was trying to formulate a response.  “Salome do you think I’m too old for Matt?”

“What?  No, that is _stupid_ Shaun.”  She heavily emphasized the stupid part.

“Because I am quite a bit older than he is.  It doesn’t bother you?” 

She surprised her by asking back, “Does it bother you?”

“Um, well it did for a while but not anymore.”  As she said the words she realized they were true.  It didn’t bother her anymore that he was nineteen years younger than her because when they were together it didn’t seem like they were.  “Not anymore.”  She repeated.

Salome had turned to her side and had propped her head up with her arm.  “Well if it doesn’t bother you why would it bother me?  Matty makes you younger I think.  Or maybe it’s just because you’re happier when he’s around.  You seem younger.”

Alex couldn’t stop the smile from taking over her face.  “Yeah, he does.”  She sighed wistfully.

Salome rolled her eyes at her mother’s lovesick look.  “So what are we going to do about stupid Shaun?”  She heard her daughter ask.

“Do?  There is nothing much that we can do.  That is her opinion but since you and I decided we don’t share that opinion what does it matter what she says?”

_Wrong answer._   “What does it matter?  **What does it matter?** ”  Her voice escalated as she repeated her words.  “Maybe it doesn’t matter to you that Shaun’s going around telling people you’re a cougar but it does to me!  I’m the one who has to hear them whispering behind my back.”

Alex immediately goes into protective mode moving up to where her daughter laid on her pillows.  “Sweetheart, I am so sorry.”  She slid her arms around her daughter.  “I never meant for any of this to hurt you in any way.”  Salome continued to hold on to her penguin.  She let her mum hold her but that didn’t mean she had to participate.

After a few minutes Salome finally spoke again.  “I think I want to go stay at dad’s.”

Sitting up she stared down at her daughter.  “What??”

She continued to hold her penguin not really looking in Alex’s direction.  “Not forever but for right now.  I think I need some space to adjust to this new reality.  Everything changed.  I’m not quite ready to be ready for that.”

Alex’s hands were shaking as they fussed at her daughter’s hair.  “Are you sure?  I just got back.”

Salome sat up and Alex dropped her hands back into her lap.  “Mum, I’m not trying to hurt you.  I just need some time to get used to this idea and I don’t think I can do that around you both right now.  Can you at least try to understand that?”

She nodded as she reached out to her daughter once more.  “I do darling.  I promise you, I do.  It’s just I’ll miss you.”

“It’s not like we won’t see each other just not all the time, just yet.”  She was giving her mum hope that this wasn’t for always but she wasn’t ready to accept her and Matt just yet.  In some ways she needed time to grieve for the family she had lost, Tom and Kayden.

Pulling her to her chest she held her daughter close missing her already.  “We can call your father after dinner to see if he agrees.”

Pulling away she looks into her mum’s sad eyes for just a moment before looking away.  “Thanks.  So what’s for dinner?”

“No clue…..Matt’s cooking.”  She announces.

She looks at her mother as if she has gone mad.  “You left him alone…..in the kitchen??”

Instantly she slaps her hands to her face as her eyes go wide.  “Oh my god what was I thinking?  We better get down there before he burns the house down.”

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**


	14. Family Has To Begin Somewhere

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought we all needed a little family fun....hope you enjoy it.

Salome giggles as they get off the bed together.  As they descend the stairs they smell the most glorious aromas coming from the kitchen.  They can hear Matt singing.  It sounds like one his songs from _American Psycho_.  Stopping in the doorway they are both surprised to see the kitchen still standing.

Using a wooden spoon as his microphone he’s singing as he stirs a pot on the stovetop while swishing his hips back and forth.  It’s Salome who gives away their presence when she giggles.  He whirls around completely forgetting about the spoon covered in sauce in his hand.  Salome doubles over in laughter at the streak of tomato sauce across the cabinets and wall.  Alex looks decidedly less happy about it.

“Oh my god, Kingston!  You shouldn’t sneak up on me like that.”  He exclaims.  When he sees Alex’s face he follows her eyes until he sees the streaks of red across her white cabinets.  “Oops!”  He says meekly.

Not able to hold it in any longer she starts laughing until she too is doubled over.  Watching them both he can’t tell if he’s in trouble or not.  He’s hoping for not.

After they regain their composure they help Matt clean the kitchen before they sit down to the meal he prepared.  Alex compliments him on his spaghetti with chicken.  “Yeah Matty, it tastes much better from the plate than the walls!”  Salome teases him.  When he thinks Alex isn’t looking he sticks his tongue out at her.

After dinner they work together to clean up the table, kitchen, and dishes.  It felt like they had been always doing this.  When the kitchen was clean and the dishwasher started Salome headed upstairs to call her dad.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He and Alex wander into the lounge sitting on the sofa.  Reaching out to her he kisses her softly enjoying the feel of her lips kissing him back.  When they part they both continue to look at each other like they can’t believe they could be so lucky.  With his arm propped against the back of the sofa his other hand strokes her arm.  “Um Alex, I know we haven’t had a chance to talk about this but remember when I was coming out her for a couple of days?”

She mirrored his stance resting her head against her propped arm.  “Yes, I remember.”

“Well, you see…..I really need to get back to the UK.  I am slated to film on Thursday.”

“Oh darling, so soon?”

“Yes I’m afraid so.  I got a lead in a small independent film.  It’s being filmed mostly at the BBC but we will go on location in a few weeks’ time.”

“Oh darling, I am so happy for you.  Is it a nice part?  Is it a challenge?”

“And to think I thought you’d be all upset because I was leaving you so soon!”  He teases.

“Oh pish!”  She smacks his chest.  “Like your ego isn’t big enough?”

He grins back at her.

“Of course maybe you don’t have to leave me.”  She says a little twinkle of mischief in her eyes.

“No I really do Alex.  If I’m not there the production can’t begin.”

She shook her head lightly.  “That’s not what I meant.  Of course you have to be there.  I would never come between you and your career.  What I mean is maybe I could go with you…..back to London, I mean.”  She bites her bottom lip as she waits for his reaction.

His eyes blow wide in surprise.  “Really?  I mean I would love that but don’t you need to be here….with Salome?”

“Well actually, I was going to talk to you about that.  Salome wants to go back to her dad’s for right now.  She says she needs some time to adjust to the idea of ‘us’.”

He immediately tenses.  “How do you feel about that Alex?”

“Well, I’m not thrilled.  I had been looking forward to spending some time with her.  But I understand too.  This was an awful lot to spring upon her.”

He scoots closer wrapping his arms around her waist.  “Alex, I never wanted to be the reason you and Salome are at odds with one another.”

She leans in kissing him sweetly.  “Darling, you’re not, not really.  It’s more all the change.  She was getting used to the idea of Tom and his daughter.  Now this is completely different, not a bad different.”  She adds when she sees his face.  “But different all the same.  I just think she needs a little time to adjust.” 

Absently she traces his arm with her fingertips, thinking.  “She loves you, you know?”  He raises his eyebrows at her revelation.  “She thinks the world of you Matt.  I don’t want you to think this is about her not liking you.  I think there was even a time she thought we were more than friends.  Being a new teenager comes with its own bundle of emotions and confusion.  We’ve just added to that and she’s going to need to work it through.  A few years ago she may have accepted it more readily but the life of a teenage girl is never that simple.”

He chuckles as he tightens his hold on her.  “Well, I don’t think I will ever understand the workings of a teenage girl’s mind.  I certainly never understood it when I was a teenager myself.”

“What, you mean last week?”  She pokes at his arm teasing him.

“Oh you didn’t!  Did you?”  He blusters as he plots his revenge.  From the countless hours they have spent together as friends he knows more about her than most men might at this stage in their relationship and he knows exactly where she is most ticklish.  He zeros in on that fertile spot causing her to shriek and to beg him to stop.  Just as he’s about to give in to her request they hear footsteps coming into the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	15. Father Knows Best

_Just as he’s about to give in to her request they hear footsteps coming into the room._

Immediately he stops his assault against her weakness and turns to see Salome coming into the lounge.  Alex instantly sits up, straightening her clothes from their wrestling match, and wondering what is going through her daughter’s mind.

She seems to ignore whatever it was she just witnessed keeping to the reason she came down in the first place.  “Mum, dad wants to talk to you.  He’s waiting on my phone in my room.”

The glow and the smile of the last few minutes drops from her face as she contemplates talking with her ex-husband.  “So you talked to him about staying with him?”  She nods.  “And does he know why you want to stay?”

“I didn’t see any reason not to tell him.  I mean it’s already on the Internet.  I’m sure it will be in the papers soon enough.  Did you not want me to say anything?”

“No, it’s fine.  It might have been better coming from me but it’s fine.”  Getting off the sofa she gives Matt a tentative smile.  “Well, better get this over with.”  She lets out a sigh before walking over to the stairs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Matt looks over to Salome, who had followed her mum with her eyes, looking a bit apprehensive.  “So your mum tells me you want to go to your dad’s.”  Matt’s voice seems to shake her out of her thoughts as she turns back to look at him.

His heart dips when she pulls her lip in like her mother does before answering, “Yeah, I thought it was best.” 

“Salome come sit down.”  She does as he asked sitting beside him on the sofa.  “Salome, I never want you to feel that you aren’t welcome in your own home.  I never meant for you to feel uncomfortable around me.”

She drops her eyes to her lap picking at her fingers.  “It’s not really that Matty.  I like you.”  She lifts her head to face him.  “Ever since you twirled me around on set when I was little I’ve thought of you as my friend, and mum’s.  We’ve done loads of stuff together so it’s not like I don’t know you but……”  She hesitates not sure how to communicate the emotions whirling around inside of her.  “But you and mum married that’s huge!”

“When I was little…”  _He had to smile because that was what…..yesterday?_   “I kept hoping my mum and dad would get back together.  I suppose every kid wants that, right?”  He nodded in agreement.  “So when she started dating Tom it was a bit of a shock.  I mean dad has dated loads and it never seemed to bother me but when mum started dating it was like I knew it would never happen.  I was sad.  I had to let the idea of them together go.”

She shifted slightly away from him so she didn’t have to look at him as she continued.  “It took me a while to accept Tom in her life.  The fact that he came with a daughter too made it harder………and I suppose easier at the same time.  I’m not used to sharing my mum, except with her work.  So Tom being around was hard for me, not having her to myself.  When I would see her with Kayden it would make me so mad.  Then I got to know Kayden and we became friends.  That’s when it got easier.  It was like there was someone for both of us.”

He wanted to say something but he sensed that she wasn’t quite finished so he waited.  “I…..I was starting to look forward to the idea of Tom and Kayden moving in with us and us being a family.  Now I’ll probably never talk to either of them again.  I just have to figure out how to let that family go before I am ready for this family.”  She scrunches up her face as she turns in his direction.  “Does any of that make any sense?”

He reaches over squeezing her hand in his.  “Yeah poppet, it does.  It makes perfect sense.”  They sit there in silence for several minutes before he continues.  “Can you promise me something?  If there is anything I can do to make this easier would you tell me?”

She nods as a shy smile graces her face.  “I promise.”

He smiles back at her before changing to a lighter topic such as her school project.  They both were trying to distract themselves from the conversation happening one floor above.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alex had to force herself to take the steps up to the second floor having a fairly good idea of how this conversation would go.  Entering Salome’s room she saw the phone lying in the middle of the bed.  Sitting on the edge she took a deep breath, picked it up and said “Hello Florian.”

It seemed to have taken him a few seconds to realize she was on the phone before he began his tirade.  “Alex, what the hell?  Salome told me that you got married this weekend….to Matt Smith!  Are you insane?”

“No Florian, I’m not.  I am very happy.”  Even anticipating his anger it was hard to hear.  She summoned on her inner strength to keep calm.

“But Alex, he’s like twenty years younger than you.  What could you two possibly have in common?”  He continued pressing her like the reporter he was.

“Actually we have quite a bit in common.  Matt and I have been friends for many years, good friends.  Now we’re married.”  She thought of how they revealed their feelings to one another but this was her ex-husband.  He wasn’t privy to know the details.

“In one weekend?  In one weekend you go from being friends to married?  What kind of example is that for our daughter?”  Oh he hit a nerve now.

“Just hold it right there Florian.  You don’t get to make judgments about my life.  You gave up that right a long time ago.  I don’t comment about the gaggle of woman that go traipsing in and out of your life.”

“Hardly a gaggle.”  He laughed a hollow laugh.  “But you were engaged.  What about that man, what was his name, Tom?”

“That is hardly any of your business.”  Alex replied firmly.

“It is when it affects my daughter and it obviously is affecting her if she doesn’t want to be there with you.”  Knife to the heart that one was.  Trying to hold back the tears as she thinks how this _is_ affecting her daughter. 

“Look Florian…..I know that Salome has a bit to work out about all of this.  I would appreciate it if you would let her work it out on her own and not try to influence her decisions about any of it.  This isn’t really about you anyways.”

“Alex.”  His voice didn’t seem to be so angry this time but was laced with concern.  “I’ve never heard her like this.  She’s always so self-assured and definitive about things.  She seems so emotional and confused.  I have to say it frightens me a bit.”

She tries to hold in a chuckle because she doesn’t think Florian would take it well at this point in the conversation.  “Florian, she’s a teenager and new to being that even.  Her emotions and hormones are taking her all over the place.  As hard as it is going to be for us to accept she’s not our little girl anymore.  She’s growing up.  With that comes a multitude of emotions for her to deal with.  This……this situation just brought all of that to the fore-front.”

He breathes out in trepidation.  “So you’re saying this will continue?” 

“I would expect so.”  She sighs.

His voice quiet and unsure, “I don’t think I am ready for this.” 

She does laugh this time.  “No parent ever is but they seem to survive it so I suppose we will too.  At least now we have another to share it with.”  She brings the conversation back to Matt.

“Oh right, your new husband.  So when do I get to meet him?”

“Meet him?”  She asks hesitantly.

“Yeah, meet him.  If he is going to be my daughter’s step-father I think I have a right to at least meet the guy, don’t you?”

He had a good point, she hated to admit.  “Um, yes I suppose.  Um…..how about when I drop off Salome tomorrow after school?  Would that work?”  She chews on her bottom lip wondering how a meeting with her ex-husband and her current husband will go.

She’s almost startled by his answer so caught up in her thoughts.  “Yeah, that should work.  So see you tomorrow then?”

“Yes, about 6.  I’d like to have dinner with her before I head back to the UK.”

“Head back to the UK?  That wasn’t on our schedule.”

_Crap!_   “No…no it wasn’t but Matt has to be back for filming.  I thought since Salome wanted a little space that I would go back with him.”

“I see.”  He says tersely.

“What is that supposed to mean Florian?”  She counters.

“That you’re already choosing your husband over your daughter.”  He accuses.

Instantly Alex is furious again.  “How dare you!  You know me better than that.  How dare you!  You know I would never do anything to hurt Salome.”  She spits.

“Yeah……well, let’s hope not.  See you tomorrow.”

“Goodbye.”  She answers quickly hanging up before he gets the chance to say the same.  Sitting there she holds the phone in her lap taking calming breaths.  Florian knows how to push her buttons but he did have a point.  Will Salome think she is choosing Matt over her?  Maybe it would be better if she stayed here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	16. I Can’t Promise to Fix All Your Problems.   I Can Promise You Won’t Have to Face Them Alone.

When she feels calm again she heads back downstairs.  Salome and Matt are discussing whether or not penguins could fly if they needed to as she walks in.  She remembers that penguins are her topic for her science research paper.  As they see her they stop to look her way.

Salome comes over to her asking quietly, “How’d it go?”  She knows from experience that sometimes conversations between her parents aren’t always pleasant.  She imagines the topic of this one would guarantee that.

“It went as well as we could have expected.”  She looks in Matt’s direction giving him a smile.

“Was he really mad?”  Salome asks.

“Salome, your dad and I have different lives.  I can’t tell him how to live his and he can’t tell me how to live mine.  But we both love you very much and we want you to be happy.  That is one thing we both agree on.”  She wraps her arms around her daughter pulling her into a tight embrace.

When they separate she tells her, “I told him I would drop you off after dinner tomorrow about 6.  Is that alright?”

“Yes, that will be fine.  Well, I should probably go finish my homework and pack.  Good night mum.”  She kisses her cheek then turns to Matt.  “Good night Matty.”  She waves at him.

“Good night poppet.  See you tomorrow.”

When she leaves the room he notices the hesitancy in her and wonders what Florian said to bring that about.  “I couldn’t help but notice you didn’t tell her about you coming back to the UK with me.”

She chews on her bottom lip as she looks over to where he is sitting.  “I’m not sure I should.”

“What did Florian say to change your mind?”

She harrumphs, “It wasn’t……”  But she knew better, it was.  “It’s just I think I should be close by in case she needs me or wants to talk.  I don’t want her to think I’m abandoning her.”

He opened his mouth to say something but heard Salome’s voice instead.  “Mum, you’re not abandoning me.  Don’t you think I know that already?  Now what’s this about you going or not going to the UK?”

She had turned to see her daughter at the entrance of the kitchen holding a soda in her hand.  Apparently she had heard everything they had just said.  “Um….well….”  Salome moves to stand next to her.  “Well…..Matt has to go back Wednesday since he starts filming a new independent on Thursday.  I was thinking of going back with him since you were going to your father’s but I want to be available to you if you need to talk or anything.”

Salome rolled her eyes like her mother was the silliest person on the planet.  “And you will be.  When have you ever not been there for me?”

Alex’s guilty mother’s conscience goes into overdrive thinking of all of the times she had wished she could be at her side.  But Salome was thinking of all of the times that her mum supported her whether in person, over the phone, or via Skype.  She had friends who lived with their mum’s all the time who didn’t get that much support.

“Mum, you are always there for me and I don’t expect things will change now.  I also know that Matty loves me too and he wouldn’t do anything to keep us from each other.”

“Of course not!”  He chimes in jumping from the sofa and coming to where they are standing. 

“But you two just got married.  You should be together not living separate lives on different continents.”  She reaches out for Matt’s hand pulling on it until she can join it with her mum’s.  “We’ll still talk all the time and have regular Skype sessions.”  Her mum still looked wary as a tear trickled down her cheek.  “I promise.  It will be fine.”

“Are you sure?”  She nodded.  “Are you really, properly sure?  Cause I’m fine with staying if you want me to.” 

“Mum, I am really, properly sure.  This may even be easier getting used to the idea from afar, eh?”

“Yeah, perhaps.”  Alex still unsure if she is doing the right thing.

“I’ll tell you what why don’t I give you two a secret mission while you are over there?”  They both looked at her confused, yet intrigued.

“A secret mission?”  Alex asks.

“Yeah, why don’t you see if you can get me some inside scoop on Doctor Who?”  They both started laughing.  “Then you can call me with your ‘reports’.  That way it will be like you are there for me.” 

Matt is amazed at how smart and kind Salome is.  In just a few minutes she has completely turned Alex’s mood around.  “Ms. Salome we accept your secret mission and will do our best not to let you down.”  He salutes her.

“Sweetie, are you sure about this?”  She checks one last time.

“Of course I’m sure.  Now let me go get my homework done or you’ll have to explain to my Algebra teacher why my proofs aren’t finished.  Good night.”  She kissed Alex’s cheek then turned to Matt and did the same.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She slid into his arms as they watched her daughter head upstairs.  When she heard her bedroom door close she leaned back seeking his lips.  “So I guess I’ll be joining you in London.  How do you feel about that?”

His smile brightened across his face.  “Like the luckiest boy on the whole planet.”  He dipped down stealing another kiss.

“That’s good.  Oh and Florian wants to meet you tomorrow.”  She says off-handedly as she heads towards their bedroom.

He stops in his tracks staring at her back.  It takes her a minute to realize he’s not following her and turns around.  “What do you mean Florian wants to meet me tomorrow?  Why?  Do you need his approval or something?”  He’s not sure why he added that last part but the idea of meeting Alex’s ex made him quite a bit nervous.  Yes, he had met Ralph before but that was before he knew Alex so that doesn’t really count.  Why would this man need to meet him?

She had stopped on the stairs then came back down to where he was standing.  “No darling, I do not need his approval.  This has nothing to do with me.”  He scrunched up his face in confusion.  “This is about Salome.”  He seemed to relax a little.  “He said that if you are her step-father that he should at least get to meet you.  I couldn’t really come up with a good argument against it so I agreed that we’d see him tomorrow when we drop off Salome.”

“So this is about Salome?”  He clarified.

“Yes, it is.  Trust me darling, it’s been a long time since Florian Haertel has had any say so over my life.”

“Well…”  He pulls her into his arms a little possessively.  “That’s good to know.”  He then kisses her soundly practically making her toes curl.

When they part for air she gives him a wicked smile before whispering in his ear.  “Take me to bed, darling.”

“As you wish.”  He kisses her once more before she drags him by the hand up the stairs to their bedroom. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	17. I Want Every Morning to Start Being Wrapped in Your Arms

The next morning they wake to their phones ringing off the nightstand.  He mumbles to her.  “Well I guess they know.”

“Yeah”, is all she says.

A short while later she rises to take Salome to school leaving him to sleep.  But he’s awake; he already misses her lying next to him.  As he lies there in her bed he thinks about how short a time they have really been together, only a few days and yet it seems like always.  They feel right.  For so long he’s harbored these feelings for Alex.  He never really knew if he would ever be able to tell her and he certainly had no idea how she would react.  Now they’re married.  He smiles.  _‘It has been so easy between us.  Ok, not so easy with everybody else but between just the two of us…..it’s been perfect.’_  

As he lies there he hears the front door open and he knows she’s back.  He waits patiently for her to come join him in bed.  When after ten minutes she still hasn’t come up; he pulls on his jeans, tosses his shirt over his head, and heads downstairs.  He finds her sitting at the counter in the kitchen absently stirring her tea.

“Hey” He says as he passes the threshold.  On the counter is a freshly brewed teapot.  He pours himself a cup.

She blinks as if startled to see him there.  “Hey.”

Leaning against the counter he tries to read her.  He’s gotten eerily good at it over the years.  If he had to guess he would say she has looked up what is being said about them online and is not too pleased.  He decides to ignore that whole topic because they already knew it was going to be rubbish and quite honestly he could care less what they have to say.  He loves her and she loves him….end of story.  “So have you decided what you want to pack for the trip?”

She seems startled by the subject but grabs onto it like it’s a life raft.  “No, not yet.  I usually have some idea how long I’m going to be over there.  Any ideas?” 

“How about forever?”  He smiles a cheeky grin at her.

“Yes, that would be lovely dear but I think at some point my daughter might just miss me.”  She banters back.

“She’s welcome to move in too.”  He says more seriously than he intended.

“I…I know you mean it but her father is here and at her age I don’t think she’d want to leave her friends and …..” 

He comes around the counter wrapping his arms around her.  “I do know that Kingston but I want you and her to know that she is always welcome whether for just a short trip or a lifetime.”

She blinks at him wondering how he could be so wonderful all of the time.  “You really mean that, don’t you?”

“Of course, I do.  The poppet is part of my family now.  I love her and I love you.  Nothing is more important to me than both of you being happy.” 

She presses into his chest tightening her arms around him feeling his love wash over her.  “They’ve labeled me a cheater and a cougar.”  She mumbles into his chest.  He tightens his arms around her and presses a kiss to her curls.  “I’m sorry.”  She continues.  “This is not going to be good for your career.”

He leans back so he can tilt her head up.  “Alex, you are good for me.”  He leans down kissing her soundly.  “One day everybody else will figure that out or they won’t.  I don’t rightly care because the only two people who matter on the subject are you and I.”

“But….”

He cuts her off by placing a finger to her lips.  “No buts.  They don’t know us Alex.  They don’t get to have an opinion.”

She smiles for the first time that morning.  _‘God, he makes everything so easy.’_   “I love you, let’s go back to bed.”

He waggles his eyebrows at her.  “Why Ms. Kingston, I thought you’d never ask.”  He practically drags her up the stairs laughing as they fall on the bed.  Within moments they are peeling clothes from each other anxious to show each other how much they do love one another.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It’s a couple of hours later when they wake in each other’s arms.  She smiles as he places small kisses on her shoulder.  “Good morning.”

“Good morning darling.”  She turns in his arms to kiss him good morning.  “I suppose I should get moving. I have a lot to do to be ready to leave tomorrow.  Oh crap!”  She smacks her head with her hand.

“What?  What’s the matter?”  He sits up all concerned.

“I never booked a flight.  Christ I better call the airlines right now.”  She starts to get up when he pulls her back into bed.  “Matt, let me go.  It might be too late to get me on the flight as it is.”

“Now, now Kingston.  Did you think I would let that happen?”  He looks at her warmly.

“What?  Did you?”

“Yes, I already booked your flight.  I even managed to get them to seat you right next to me.”

“But how?  When?”

“When?  About five minutes after you agreed to go.  As to how…..well I have to have a few secrets don’t I?”  He smiled secretively at her.

“Oh you, really?”

“Yes, really.  I wasn’t going to take a chance that you wouldn’t get on the flight.  I know you you’d say it was a sign or something and not come at all.”

She laughed because it certainly sounded like something she would say.  “God, you really do know me don’t you?”

“Yep.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	18. Husband Meet My Husband

After they finished packing and cleaning up around the house they both flopped onto the sofa to take a break.  No sooner had they laid down when one of their phones started buzzing again.  “So how many you got today?”  He asks.

“Got?”

“Yeah, I have….let’s see…”  He pulls out his mobile to check the screen.  “Let’s see the latest count is 56 missed calls and 78 text messages.  How about you?”

“Oh I think you may have me beat.  Let’s see.”  Pulling out her mobile she checks her count.  “Yep only 48 missed calls but 82 texts so I guess I’m still popular.”

“You’re always popular.”  He leans down leaving a quick kiss on her lips.  Laying back against the sofa cushion he sighs.  “I’m hoping now that we have made an official statement that things will calm down.  At least the paparazzi aren’t camped out on your doorstep.”

“Oh I think they reserve that for the A-listers.  I’m far below that here in LA.  But what about you?  How do you think it will be back in the UK?  You’re definitely A-List for the paps there.”

He rubs his face with his hand while his other holds her close.  “Yeah, I have wondered about that.  I wish we could stay here a little longer till it blows over but if I don’t show up for filming I’m in breach of contract.”

She slides her arms around him holding him close.  “You’re going to be brilliant in your new film.  That is what they should be focused on not …..well, not our personal lives.”  Something occurs to her and she raises herself on his chest to look at him.  “Promise me you won’t do anything stupid.”

His eyes go wide as he smirks at her.  “Define stupid?”

She swats his chest.  “I’m serious.  I don’t want this to hurt you or your career.  Promise you won’t do anything crazy like punch out a photographer or something?”

He chuckles at her.  “Oh Kingston, you worry too much.  You know I have had to deal with the press before.”

“Yes, but that was mostly about Who.  This is personal.  It can be a lot harder to keep the checks in place.”  She nervously chews on her bottom lip.

He reaches up soothing her lip with his thumb before leaning in for a delightful kiss.  Not pulling away he locks onto her eyes.  “Alex, I know all of this worries you but it really shouldn’t.”

“It shouldn’t?”  She looks at him in disbelief.

“No, it shouldn’t.  There will be those who will say unkind things and we will have to act like we haven’t seen or heard them.  But there will also be many people who will be happy for us.  There will also be some who may not be at first but eventually will see how happy we are together that we will give them no choice.”

“You sound awfully sure of yourself there Mr. Smith.”  She snuggles closer to him, her arms wrap around his neck.

“As sure as I am that hearing you say ‘Yes’ to my proposal was the best sound I could ever have hoped to hear in my life!”

Her smile widens as her eyes glitter with the love she feels for him.  “Oh you do know how to sweet-talk a girl don’t you?”  Her forefinger glides down his cheek.

“I do my best Mrs. Smith.”  He leans in giving her a quick kiss.  He reaches down bringing her left hand to his lips saddened to see her hand still bare.  His own ring, whenever it has caught his eye, has been a happy reminder of their promises to each other.

He rubs the skin where her ring should be.  “So….do you think it’s time yet to put your ring back on?”  His voice is a little tentative wondering why she hasn’t already. 

She looks down at her left hand as if for the first time realizing that it was bare.  “Oh, yes, there has been so much going on I forgot to put it back on.”  She starts to get up to retrieve it when his arms hold her in place.

“Is this really what you want Alex?”  She looks at him confused.

“I don’t understand.  Is what what I want?”

He kisses her ring finger before continuing.  “Before you put that ring back on I want you to be sure that being married to me is what you truly want.  I don’t think I could ever bear to see you take it off again.”  His eyes pierce hers waiting for the seconds to tick by like hours before she answers.

“Matthew Robert Smith I take thee as my husband.  Despite our beginning seeming brash to others we know this has been a long time coming for both of us.  I don’t foresee me ever wanting to take it off again.”  He smiles.  She smiles back then leans in to kiss him thoroughly.  By the end of the kiss she has slid off him and gone to find her purse.

When she returns she opens his palm and places it within.  “Marry me darling?”  She begs.  He smiles at her silently asking for her left hand which she freely gives.

“With this ring I thee wed.”  He declared.  He brought her hand to his lips again this time kissing around her wedding ring.  “I love you.”

She beamed back at him.  “I love you too darling.  So much.”  Just as their lips meet they hear in the distance the opening of the front door.

“Mum, I’m home!”

Immediately they disentangle from one another straightening their clothes while both wearing guilty grins on their faces.  Alex can’t help but feel like she’s a teenager and that her mum has just walked in the door.  ‘Hardly fair considering my age…..and it’s _my_ front door!’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Salome finishes packing for her father’s while Alex and Matt make dinner.  She loves having him at her side as they chop vegetables, decide on what spices to use, and prepare the meal for their family.  Matt is far more capable in the kitchen than she ever knew.  “So darling if you are this good at cooking why is it I only ever saw take-away boxes in your kitchen?”  She finally asks.

Turning his head slightly in her direction he smiles at her, “Because cooking is not much fun by myself, Kingston.  I like being able to share it with you, or the poppet.  That is what makes cooking more than just making food.”

She can’t help but beam back at him.  _This man is just a dream.  However did she resist for so many years when he is everything she has ever wanted?_   He leans over leaving a quick kiss on her lips before putting the vegetables back in the crisper.  She can’t stop herself from ogling his backside as he bends down to do so.  When he turns around catching her she doesn’t even try to hide it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When he thinks she isn’t looking he pulls out his mobile again checking who has called.  Trying to hide his disappointment he pushes it back into his pocket.  She caught the sadness in his eyes and couldn’t help but wonder who he was hoping to hear from.  Having been so busy dealing with her family and friends reactions she hasn’t really asked about his.  Other than his mum and Karen he hasn’t said anything about what has been said to him. 

“Darling?”

Startled he looks her way, “Yeah?”

“Is there someone you were hoping to hear from?”  As much as she hates herself for thinking it she wonders if he was hoping Lily would call.  She doesn’t know why.  He’s been pretty clear that he wants to be with her, only her, but she can’t help the nagging thoughts.

He realizes she caught him looking at his messages.  About to brush it aside he caught the look on her face.  Something in it said she needed reassured and brushing this aside would only feed her doubts. 

Rubbing the back of his neck he shuffles over to her.  “Yeah, I was hoping to hear from Lor.  I’m sure Mum has told her by now.  I thought she would have called.”

“Why don’t you call her?”

“I have.  I always get her voicemail.”  He hung his head feeling a bit like the little kid his grown-up sister always made him feel like.  He adored his sister and they had always been close.  She was the only person he had ever confided in about his feelings for Alex.  He thought for sure she would be happy for him.  The longer he doesn’t hear from her the more he wonders if this was all too crazy to be real.  Shaking his head he pushes those crazy thoughts aside turning back to preparing dinner.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dinner goes smoothly, no cabinets or walls were marred in the process.  Salome is pleasant through the meal if not decidedly distracted.  Matt considers asking her about it but realizes he may not be the one she wants to talk with right now.

The dinner cleaned up he goes up to offer to carry her suitcases.  He waits outside her door after knocking.  “Come on in Matty.”

Opening the door he is surprised she knew it was him.  “How did you know it was me?”

“Cause Mum doesn’t wait for me to give permission!”  She quickly answers. 

He laughs.  “So I thought I would see if you would like some help with your bags?”

It’s her turn to laugh.  “You know Matty, you don’t have to try so hard.”

“What?  Are you saying I’m not allowed to be a gentleman and ask a lady if she wants help carrying her bags?”

Giggling she says, “No that’s not it.  It’s just you don’t have to is all I’m saying.”

“Of course I have to poppet.  Me mum would have my head if I didn’t offer.”

“Ok, ok.”  She raised her hands in surrender.  “Far be it from me to get you in trouble with your mum.”  As if something just occurred to her she asked, “Does that make her my step-grandmum?”

His eyes went wide as he went to pick up her bags.  “Um…..I guess…..I guess it does!”  He seemed as surprised by this development as she was looking over to determine how Salome felt about it.

“Cool!”

“Yeah, cool!”  As he carried her bags down the stairs he wondered if his mum would think it was cool as well.  _I suppose those are one of those conversations we will have to have one day._   Alex worried about the worried look on his face when he came down the stairs but didn’t say anything.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As they were driving over to Florian’s Alex kept stealing glances at Matt in the passenger seat.  The poor man, he looked absolutely ashen.  Reaching past the gearshift she took his hand in hers.  When he looked her way she gave him a reassuring smile that seemed to calm him returning a little color to his cheeks. 

Pulling into the driveway Salome immediately got out of the car going to the boot to get her things.  Alex took that moment to lean his way placing a small kiss to his lips.  “I love you and it matters not whether Florian likes you or not.  But for Salome’s sake try to get along, ok?”

He gives her a petrified smile back.  “I’ll do my best.”  Honestly he thinks the only thing more terrifying is when he has to meet _her_ father.  Taking a deep breath he gets out of the car meeting Salome at the boot.  “Poppet, let me carry those.  You take your schoolbag.”  She smiles at him gratefully as he hoists her two, rather heavy, suitcases.  He follows her up the pathway to the house with Alex trailing behind them.

Salome uses her key opening the door.  She directs Matt to put her suitcases on the floor near the door.  “Dad I’m home!”  She calls out.  Footsteps can be heard coming down the hall.  From around the corner a man in his forties wearing jeans and a white button down shirt greets his daughter.  “Sweetheart I’m so sorry I lost track of time.  I was working on a free-lance piece and…..”  He stopped as he noticed Matt standing there for the first time with Alex a few paces behind him.

Following his gaze Salome decides introductions are in order.  “Daddy this is Matt.  Matt this is my father, Florian Haertel.”  Both men put out their hands at the same time shaking that of the other. 

“It’s nice to finally meet you.  Salome talks about you so often I feel like we have already met.”  Matt says trying to ease the tension in the room.

“Yes, between watching you on the telly and all of the stories Salome has told me about you it is as if we have already known each other.”  They both smile tentatively with one another knowing they are really just testing the waters here ferretting out each other.

Unsure of what else to say to the man he takes the easy way out offering to take Salome’s bags to her room for her.  Thinking that perhaps her parents need a few minutes alone she agrees showing him the way up to her room.  Alex is a little annoyed that they left her alone with Florian but maybe they can clear the air.  “So as you can see he is a lovely man.”  Alex tries.

“Yes, he is a lovely _young_ man.”

“Florian, don’t start.”

He puts his hands up.  “Sorry.  This is going to take some getting used to.  So do you know when you’ll be back this time?”

“Not as of yet.  Although if Salome needs me I can be back at any time.”  He nods in understanding.

“Are you moving back to the UK?”

“No, not permanently, but for now that is where Matt needs to be so that is where I want to be.  You know how us actors are we go where the work is.”

“Yes, but Salome?”

“Salome wants me to go.  I said I’d stay and she insisted I go.  Maybe she can come visit…..when she feels up to it.”  He nods not really committing to anything but showing understanding anyways.

At the sound of Matt’s return down the stairs they both fall into silence unsure what else needs to be said.  “Did you get her settled in?”  She asks him.

“Yes the Poppet was busy showing me her Who collection that she has here at her dad’s.   It’s quite impressive.”

“She is quite the Whovian that is for sure.  Well, let me say my good-byes.”  Matt looks horrified that she is going to leave him alone with Florian.  She assures him.  “I’ll be right back.”

After she leaves both men look rather awkwardly at the floor.  Florian is the first to speak up.  “Forgive me if I come across brash but this marriage is awfully sudden.  Do you have any idea what you have gotten yourself into?”  Matt’s eyes widen at the man’s boldness.  “I mean taking on Alex is one thing but a daughter as well.  I imagine that is not something a man as young as you would want to be burdened with.”

Matt works hard to corral his anger knowing that Florian is just trying to protect his daughter and who is he to fault him for that.  “Actually I am delighted that not only have I married a wonderful woman but her daughter is a great kid who I have gotten to know for many years now.  I know Salome is adjusting to this new reality but I already love her like a daughter, have for a long time.  I will be there for her whenever she needs me in whatever way she needs me.  I hope that that might ease your worries a bit although I would understand if it didn’t.”

Florian’s not sure how to respond.  He hadn’t expected such an honest answer.  Luckily he was saved by Alex returning so he just nodded in Matt’s direction.  When she came back to a quiet room Alex wasn’t sure what had transpired.  “Did you boys play nice?”

“Yes, we were perfect gentleman Kingston.”  He said as he moved closer to her.

She looked over to Florian.  “Matt and I were just getting to know each other Alex.  Nothing to worry about.”

It all seemed so civil.  It’s no wonder Alex was worried.  “Well, we should be off darling.”  He turned towards the door eager to leave this awkwardness behind.  She turned to Florian.  “Thank you for being understanding about Salome’s need to be here right now.  She, I, we all appreciate it.”

“Anything for my little girl.  You know that Alex.”

She nods.  “I know but I wanted to thank you anyways.  I hope you will give her the space she needs to work this out on her own.”

“I will give her whatever she needs.”  He reiterates.

“Thank you Florian.  Auf widersehen.”  

“Auf widersehen, Alex” On the way back to Alex’s she asks how things really went.  When it seemed that things did go relatively ok she sighed in relief.  _‘It would be nice to have one thing she didn’t have to worry about.’_

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  



	19. A Good Marriage is Each for the Other and Two Against the World

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title "A Good Marriage is Each for the Other and Two Against the World" is a quote from Robert Brault.

Alex is a bundle of nerves on the trip to LAX.  Sitting next to her in the back of the hire car Matt is holding her hand and trying not to fidget.  They both know that despite having avoided any photographers so far that the airport is sure to be crawling with them.  Even if they are not there for them; they are sure to be spotted.

When she decided what to wear for the trip she thought about one of her incognito outfits but she is sure there will be pictures regardless…..she might as well look respectable in them.  It’s part of the reason she made Matt change his shirt when he came out of the washroom.  “Honestly darling, do you want our picture splashed on every newspaper with you wearing a naked lady on your chest?”  After looking down at his chest he sheepishly changed his shirt.

They managed to get through security and customs with only a few photos being taken.  By the time the photographers realized they were there they were unable to get to them beyond the secure area.  Feeling a little calmer they board their flight for the first time as Mr. and Mrs. Smith.  She’s shocked when she realizes that he upgraded their tickets to first class.  “Only the best for my new bride.”  He whispers in her ear before leaving a kiss on her cheek.

Before the flight even takes off the flight attendant brings them both a glass of champagne.  When she looks over to him he is bursting at the seams with joy.  “What has you so giddy, darling?”

“I don’t know…..just having you here beside me…….going home…….it suddenly feels so real.  We’re really married, Kingston!”

She smiles back at him leaning in to kiss him softly.  “Glad that’s still making you happy, darling.”

“Always.”  His voice breathless but firm.  “In fact I think that should be our toast.”  He holds his flute up waiting until she does the same.  “To us always being happy.”

“Always.”  She repeated his words as their glasses clinked.  She watched as the golden liquid eased down his throat bringing a red flush to his cheeks. 

The flight was as long as it always is but it didn’t feel like it.  He pressed into her side as she leaned into his.  Holding one another the eleven hours flew by.  As the plane was making its descent into Heathrow they both separately braced themselves for what, most likely, waited for them.

While LA barely gave them notice, in London they were both big news.  Especially with their roles as River and the Doctor they were certain that the paps would be lying in wait for them as soon as they landed.

They get a few stares as they make their way through customs but that could be the regular celebrity stares.  However when they clear the secure area it becomes obvious that the stares are for them.  Lying in wait are throngs of reporters and photographers begging them for details of their marriage.  They try to make their way through ignoring them as much as it is possible. 

Apparently not liking that they are being ignored one reporter makes a snide remark about Matt dumping Lily for Alex. Matt stopped them amongst the reporters not sure what he was going to say or do.  Alex stared at him wide-eyed not sure what he was going to do either.

After taking a deep breath he began, “This past weekend I was lucky enough to marry this beautiful woman.”  He looks down at her as she gazes up at him.  Flashes go wild around them.  “We are very happy and would appreciate some privacy as we are still on our honeymoon.”  The crowd laughs in unison.  When one reporter asked about Alex’s fiancé they chose to ignore the question and press on through the pack of reporters and photographers very aware of the flashes all around them.

They manage to escape the group with their luggage and hire a car for the trip back to London.  Alex’s nerves are nearly shot by the time they settle into the back of the taxi.  She can’t help but think how this is going to damage Matt’s career.  Sneaking a peek in his direction she is sure she will find a face of regret; regret that he ever married her.  To her amazement he is looking at her with a face of love and devotion.

“How can you be looking at me like that?”

“Like what?”  He genuinely asks.

“Like you are still happy that you married me.”  She asks her fingers fidgeting with her purse handle.

He reaches over taking her small hands in his large ones, “Because I am still happy that you married me; very happy.”

“But…..this is all my fault.  Those reporters wouldn’t be saying nasty things about you if you had married Lily.  This is because of me.”

“Alex.”  He pulls her into his chest holding her tight.  Leaning his head against her curls, “Sweetheart we can’t control what other people say about us but I love you and I promise I am very happy that you married me.”

She lifts her head from his chest searching his eyes, “Really?”

“Yes, really.”  They don’t say much else on the ride to his London flat just continue to hold each other as if it can somehow keep reality at bay.

When they pull up to his place they can see the crowd of photographers, reporters, and camera crew at the ready.  They both knew it would be like this.  Here in London they knew they would find it hard to find anonymity.  Whereas LA barely gave them a notice; here they were big news.

Matt paid the driver before he got out to get their bags from the boot.  He’s hoping he won’t mind taking them to the door with the generous tip he gave him.  Looking over to Alex, her face is ashen with worry.  He tugs her hand to get her to look his way greeting her with his happiest face.  “Are you ready, Kingston?”

“No, but then I suppose the driver will want his car back soon.”

He chuckled at her attempt to make light of the situation.  “Yes, I imagine he will.  Just follow my lead.  Everything will be alright.”

She squeezed his hand back and then as if finally hearing what he said she questioned, “Follow your lead?  About what?”  But he was already tugging her out of the taxi and into the onslaught of cameras going off and shouts from reporters for quotes.  Holding her hand so tight she thought he would never let go…..later she would realized that was his point. 

He pulled her in the direction of the short flight of stairs into his flat.  Over his shoulder he asked the driver to bring the bags up to the landing.  After quickly unlocking the door and pushing it open he turned to her.  Without giving her a moment to catch on he picked her up bridal style into his arms.  “Alex I love you.  Welcome home.”  He brought his lips to hers giving her a passionate kiss before carrying her over the threshold.

Once inside he put her feet back on the ground but did not let go.  His head resting against hers he whispered, “Remember us loving each other is all that matters.” 

He pulls back to see her looking at him in awe.  “Always.”

“Always.”

A moment later he gives her a smile then heads back to the door to retrieve their bags.  The cameras still flash, and he can still hear the reporters begging for a quote but his thoughts are only for him and Alex.  This is it for them.  This is when their lives really begin _in the real world_. 

They’re not in Reno, Nevada or even LA.  They’re home in England.  He knows that no matter how long Alex has lived in the U.S. that in her heart this is still home. This is where all of her family, except Salome, lives.  This is where all of his family lives.  They are home……together for the first time.  He is so giddy he practically dances into his flat with the luggage.

Alex watches as he goes back to the open door to bring in their luggage then moves into the lounge.  She has been here so many times before, for parties, for hanging out, and even for a few sleepovers in his guest room.  The place feels so different now.  It will be the place she shares with Matt, not as friends but as lovers, as husband and wife.  It all seems rather overwhelming and she can’t stop a shiver from running down her back.

Whether he saw or not it’s only a few moments before his arms slide around her pulling her into his chest.  She leans back against him letting the security of his arms around her calm her frazzled nerves.  “You know I have been here so many times before and yet this still feels like the first time.  It seems different somehow.”

“Hmmmmm”  He articulates while inhaling the scent of her hair.

A smirk forms onto her face.  “I know why it looks different…..it’s clean!”

“W...what?!?”  He sputters.

She sneaks a peak up to him over her shoulder.  “Tell the truth.  You called your cleaning lady as soon as you booked my flight, didn’t you?”

He wrinkles his nose at her.  ‘ _Infuriating woman, she knows me too well.’_ “I’ll never tell.”  He teases back, all but admitting his guilt.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He takes their bags back to his bedroom.  It seems odd that he will be sharing his space with her, his bed with her.  As much as he has enjoyed the past several days this more than anything makes it real for him.  They are starting their lives together…..here.

As he looks around he wonders if they should get a place of their own.  Someplace that isn’t his, some place he hadn’t shared with anyone else.  For now that will have to wait as he has a film to make and the throng of paparazzi at his doorstep would make looking at houses all but impossible right now.

She tentatively walks into his bedroom.  In all of the times she has been to his place this is the one room she has never been in.  It seems nice, a little bare but nice. 

Sensing her behind him he turns to her gathering her in his arms.  “God, I’m so glad you’re here.” He whispers next to her ear before finding her lips.

She can feel it too.  Everything seems so much more real here than it did in LA.  They were really doing this.  They were going to live their lives together and she was gloriously happy at the prospect and ridiculously scared at the same time.  As much as she wanted this it was hard not to hear all the voices of people saying it would never last.

Stepping back he shows her around.  “The closet is probably big enough for the both of us but I think we’re going to need another dresser.” 

She’s impressed at the size of the walk in closet, a rarity on this side of the pond.  Not surprisingly it looks as if he just threw everything in there in a big hurry.  ‘Oh well, that’s something that will keep me busy while he’s filming.’

As they look over the room they both are assaulted by the ghosts of those before her.  Almost at the same time they say, “Maybe we should get a new bedroom set.”  They smile at each other, how in sync they seem to be.  “As soon as I have a break in filming.”  He promises.

He takes her small bag into the en suite showing her where he keeps everything before leaving her to settle in.  Back in the kitchen he puts on the kettle to make them both tea.  By the time she wanders back out he has readied it just as she likes it.

“Thank you darling.”  She takes her tea as he motions to the lounge.  Sitting next to each other they remain silent as if they are letting the reality of their life finally sink in.  It hardly seems possible that they are married and starting their lives together in London.  Looking down at her left hand the shimmer of her ring reminds her that it is true.

He too is a little surprised that his dream is truly reality.  Despite it making him so happy he is scared to death that something will ruin it.  Looking over to her he sees her staring at her ring.  He wonders if she feels the same way.  Bringing his own ringed hand to hers he purposely lets them scrape together as he clasps his fingers around hers.  Together.

Together they made a simple dinner then lounged in front of the telly.  When the third “report” about their marriage interrupted their viewing they shut it off.  She clung to him and he to her.  They were in this together…..at least that was the mantra both of them were silently repeating in their own heads.

Their lovemaking was slow and deliberate as if every touch, every stroke was imprinting them onto each other.  He wanted, no he needed, her to know that this is exactly where he wanted to be.  She hoped he felt how much she loved him and that that would be enough to get them through the hell that the media was sure to throw at them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	20. There is Only One Happiness in Life, to Love and be Loved

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title: "There is Only One Happiness in Life, to Love and be Loved" is a quote by George Sands.
> 
> This is a rather longish chapter but that should make up for my lack of updating this week. Hope you enjoy!

The next morning Matt has to be up quite early to get to his first day on set.  Carefully he extracts himself from around Alex hoping not to wake her.  As soon as she feels him leave the bed however she is wide awake. 

While he’s in the shower she makes him a full breakfast, complete with pancakes.  When he comes into the kitchen he is shocked that she’s awake and even more so that she has made him breakfast.  “What kind of wife would I be if I didn’t make you breakfast?” 

He giggles.  “The kind who likes to sleep in.”  He kisses her nose.  That’s when he spies them.  “Oh my god!  You made me pancakes!  Kingston Pancakes!!”  Thus a tradition was born.  Whenever he had a new job or a big event she would make him breakfast complete with ‘Kingston Pancakes’ as he liked to call them.

Walking him to the door she kisses him intently before he heads out.  She knows that despite his excitement for his new project that this is going to be a difficult day.  He is sure to be assaulted by reporters both here and at the studio.  He will no doubt have to answer countless times from future co-workers and friends alike how he managed to marry Alex Kingston.  As much as she felt sorry for him she was glad she didn’t have to venture out of the flat.  The prospect of reorganizing his closet seemed infinitely more enjoyable.

The media firestorm is everything they feared it would be.  No one knew that Matt and Lily were already broken up so they were both labeled as cheaters.  The rags had some very uncomplimentary comparisons of Alex and Lily questioning why Matt would have chosen someone older over someone younger.  The more unsavory rags went all out accusing Alex of being a cougar who pounced on Matt as soon as he was available, taking advantage of his vulnerable state.  They were the talk of every radio and television talk show.  Most of it was not complimentary.  In short, the media was a bit ridiculous.

They both tried to keep a low profile.  He goes to the set to film and back to the flat.  Alex doesn’t venture out since there are reporters camping out.  Thank god for their fans.  As much as the mass media is spewing hate for them; their fans are rallying around them bombarding the social media sites with love of the two of them getting together.

Most days it’s just the two of them holding on to each other trying to make it through but even they need someone else once in a while.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first day Matt was on set at his new movie Alex wondered how she should occupy her time.  With the paparazzi waiting outside their door she wasn’t about to head outside anywhere.  The flat had already been cleaned so there wasn’t much to occupy her other than reorganizing the bedroom closet.  Throwing on her yoga pants and a tank she pulled her hair back into a messy ponytail.  She had been at it about an hour and a half when she heard the insistent sound of the front doorbell.

Taking a deep breath she decided to ignore it assuming it was an aggressive reporter but it didn’t let up.  When she started to notice a rhythm to the chimes she thought she might just know who it was.  Opening the door she wasn’t too surprised to see Arthur on the other side.  “So apparently my daughter got married and nobody bothered to call me!”  He chastises her as he slides in closing the door quickly behind him.

“Hey there Arthur.”  She pulled him into a hug that she had missed so very much from her friend.  It always surprised her that despite the age difference between her and Arthur (and Karen) that they had become good friends.  Whereas at the start of their friendship she acted more motherly towards them that quickly fell away. 

She pulled him towards the kitchen.  “Let me make us a cuppa.  I want to hear all about what you’ve been up to.”  Arthur sat in one of the stools at the counter while she put on the kettle and readied their mugs.

“Me?  I think you, by far, have a more interesting story to tell daughter dear.”  When she blushed at him he winked back.  In front of him she sat a plate of biscuits.  Snagging one he sat back on the stool asking, “So do you want to tell me how you got married to Matt Smith…………and nobody bothered to call me?!?”

Reaching out she covers his hand still resting on the counter.  “Arthur we didn’t mean to not call you.  It’s just been….well it’s been a bit hectic.  We only got back to the UK yesterday and he’s ……..”  The rest of whatever she was going to say was cut off by the blare of the tea kettle.  Bustling to make it stop she poured the hot liquid in their cups then brought them over to where he sat.

It wasn’t until she had taken a few sips that she began again.  “We hadn’t planned it.  It just happened and we’ve been rather playing catch-up ever since.”

Holding his mug tightly he has been watching her in his quiet Arthur way.  “I didn’t even realize you were dating.”  He finally says.

“We weren’t.”

“You weren’t?  But now you’re married?”  She nods.  “Ok, I need to hear the story behind this.”

She waves him in the direction of the lounge where she spends the next hour and a half going over their weekend in Nevada followed by a short synopsis of all the people she’s had to defend this to already. 

When she finishes he looks at her incredulously.  “So you two are serious and properly married?”

“Yes, we are properly married.  I know it was a Reno chapel but it is still legal.”

“I know.  I…I’m just trying to get my head around this.  I mean I know _he_ fancied you..”  She chokes on her tea.  “but I didn’t really think you fancied him.  I thought you just did all that flirting to wind him up.  I never expected that you were _both_ serious.”

Looking at him rather expectantly she asks, “So now that you do.  How do you feel about it?”

Looking confused he responds, “How I feel about it?  Why would that matter?”

“Because it does.  You are my friend.  You’re Matt’s friend.  I care what you think.  So how do you feel about us being together?”

His cup has been empty for a while now but he had held it for something to do with his hands but now he places it on the table in front of them.  Moving closer he extends his hands to her silently asking.  She places her hands inside his feeling safe when his fingers wrap around hers. 

“Alex you are a dear friend to me and Matt is one of my closest mates.  I know that he loves you and has for a long time.  Not because he has ever said but because of his actions towards you.  Knowing you as I do you would not have entered into this relationship without giving it a great deal of thought.  You have probably talked yourself out of it at least a hundred times or more.”  She chuckled knowing that she had done just that.  “I am glad that you have found each other and that you are happy.”  He could see her wondering how he knew.  “I didn’t have to ask if you were since it has been written all over your face since I arrived.”  He squeezed her hands tighter.  “Be happy Alex, you deserve to be.”

It was everything she needed to hear right then.  With the paparazzi camped outside and everything about her life being dissected in every media……she just needed to hear that it was ok for her to be happy.  Because she was……she really was.

Before he left Arthur took a picture of him and Alex.  Later he sent it to Matt with the caption.  “Congratulations on marrying my daughter.  Be aware I have a sword!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After filming one day he finally decides enough is enough and shows up on his sister’s doorstep.  She’s surprised to see him since he’s a newlywed in all.  “What are you doing here?”  She asks.

He harrumphs as he pushes past her into her place.  He wasn’t about to give the reporters anything more to chew on.  As soon as she shuts the door he answers her.  “You wouldn’t answer your phone!”

“Well who would want to talk to their sister on their honeymoon?” She bristles by him on the way to the kitchen.

He catches her arm making her stop and look at him.  “I would.  Why wouldn’t you pick up when I called?”

“Why didn’t you tell me you got married?”  She volleys back at him staring him down as only a big sister can.

“Oh so this is what this is about, is it?  You’re mad I told Mum but not you.”  He accuses as she stomps off in the direction of the kitchen.  He doesn’t say anything further as she slams the kettle onto the burner and practically breaks the mugs as she bangs them on the counter.  “Lor?”  She turns slightly in his direction.  “You really are mad aren’t you?”  His voice was smaller now, not accusing anymore.

“Yes, I’m mad!  Christ Matty I thought we were close.  I felt like such an idiot when Mum told me.  I had to pretend I didn’t know all about your feelings for Alex and listen to Mum go on and on about the two of you.  I thought you would have at least called me soon after but NOOOOO! By the time you decided to call me….what two days later……I was in no mood to talk to you.”

Matt felt like such an idiot.  Coming over to her he leaned his forehead onto her shoulder.  “Lor, I am very sorry I didn’t call you sooner.  I was a bit overwhelmed by it all and……and I wasn’t sure what to say.”

She leaned her head against his letting out a great sigh.  “Idiot!”  They both let out a laugh.  He looked up at her sheepishly hoping she wasn’t still so mad at him.  “Com’ere, you idiot!”  Pulling him into her arms she was glad he was there.

“So you’re a married man, huh?”  She teased as she continued to make their tea.

He flushes as he tries to look in her direction.  “Yeah, bet you never saw that coming?”

She hands him his mug pointing to the lounge.  He follows her in sitting next to her on the sofa.  After a few sips of tea she finally answers him.  “Well I have to say Matty that sure as hell wasn’t what I was expecting when I answered Mum’s call.  So how did you go from barely talking to Alex to married to her?”

Matt spent the better part of the next hour going over the weekend in Reno, and then what happened when they got back to LA.  He ends by letting her know that they are very happy.  “So what are you doing here?”  She asks when he’s done.

“What do you mean?  I came to talk to you.”

She looked him over and without saying anything went back to the kitchen to make more tea.  Sitting on the sofa he goes over everything he just said and can’t for the life of him figure out why she is reacting this way.  With no other option he follows her to the kitchen.  Hearing him approach she turns her back to him so he doesn’t notice the hurt in her eyes.  “Lor, can you tell me what’s going on here?”

“It’s nothing.  I’m sure you need to get home anyways.  Won’t your _wife_ be missing you?”  Even though she wasn’t looking at him he could tell she was holding something back.

“Lor?”  He tugged at her arm.  “Lor, look at me.”  She finally turned in his direction and he was surprised at how sad she looked.  “Why are you so sad?  I thought of anyone you’d be happy for me.”

“I am.  I am.  I promise I am.”  She tries to reassure him.

“Really?  Cause you look like you did when your pet goldfish died and you insisted we have a funeral.”  When she looks at him and he has his sad puppy dog face on she breaks, it coming out as a mixture of laughing and crying.

When she calms down he pushes her to talk to him.  Finally she admits, “I guess it’s just that now that you are married you won’t really need me much anymore.”

“What??”

“You won’t.  You’ll have Alex to take to all of your premieres, and Alex to help you pick out clothes, and Alex to talk over all of your life decisions with.  You won’t need me.”

He let out a hearty laugh pulling her closer to him.  “Oh you are so ridiculous.  I can’t believe you are jealous of my wife.”

“Not jealous!”  She mumbles into his chest.

He steps back with his arms around her neck so he can see her face.  “If you would have bothered to listen to any of my messages, which I can tell you haven’t.”  He ignores her protests.  “You would have heard a little brother who very much wanted to talk to his bossy older sister about the biggest decision he has ever made in his life.”  Her eyes go wide.

“Really?”

“Yes, really.  Don’t think you’re getting rid of me just because I got married.”

She punches his arm.  “If only!”  She teases back.

The air cleared she finally congratulates him and before he leaves they make plans to have dinner together with Alex in the coming weeks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By the third day Alex was starting to go stir crazy.  She had already unpacked and organized the bedroom, did a few loads of laundry, checked her email, and called her agent and publicist.  Her agent was all aflutter.  Apparently this latest media uproar had him fielding more calls than usual requesting auditions.  Although she wasn’t ready to face the public yet she had him send over the audition pages for her perusal.  She had to say she was surprised; she had expected the opposite to occur.  Apparently Matt desiring her meant others did as well.  She was practically dancing through the flat when the doorbell rang.

Tentatively she went to answer it.  ‘ _The messenger can’t be here this fast.’_   Her eyes went wide when she identified the visitor through the opening in the door.  Feeling a panic attack coming on she took deep breaths before opening the door.  “Mrs. Smith, we weren’t expecting you.  Come in.”  She tries not to give the photographers anything worthwhile, quickly shutting the door.  Silently she hopes they’ll get bored soon and leave. 

Alex had only met her one other time.  It was during Matt’s first season when she and her husband had come to set during ‘The Pandorica Opens’.  Now she was greeting her as her daughter-in-law.  “Mrs. Smith, can I get you some tea?”  _Oh thank god for the ritual of tea.  It can make any awkward situation doable._

“Yes, that would be lovely……and please call me Lynne.”  Lynne excused herself to freshen up while Alex went nervously to the kitchen to make tea.  ‘ _Oh my god, what is she doing here?’_   She looked at the time on the microwave calculating how long it would be before Matt would be home.  _‘It will be at least three hours before he gets back….’_

“Oh that’s better.  Honestly I swear there is more traffic every time I come down here.  I’m certainly glad we don’t live in London.  I could not put up with this every day.”  Coming back into the kitchen she makes herself at home pulling out biscuits from the pantry then pushing past the teas in the front of the cupboard to some hidden in the back.  “If you wouldn’t mind I prefer this to his Earl Gray.  You can try it if you like.”

Alex stood there with her mouth hanging open completely unsure of what to say in this situation.  Lynne reached over closing her mouth.  “You’ll catch flies dear.”  This is all she said before she took over the process of making tea.  With the tea prepared Lynne sat it on the kitchen table along with the biscuits.  Slowly coming out of her stupor Alex followed her there sitting across from her as she watched Matt’s mum pour the hot water into their cups.

Lynne was studying Alex; she could feel it but remained quiet for some time.  After what seemed like an age she finally spoke.  “I gather you’re surprised that I’m here.”

“A bit….yeah.”  Alex replied nervously as she sipped her tea.

“It’s nothing ominous.  I already had plans with Laura for tonight.  I decided I would come a little early to get to know you…..since you are now married to _my son_.”  Despite her pleasant tone the ‘my son’ part seemed a bit forced.

Putting down her tea cup she steels herself before addressing Matt’s mum.  “I gather you don’t approve?”

“It’s not up to me to approve or disapprove.  Matt’s a grown man.  He can make his own decisions.”  She aimlessly pushes the cup around the placemat.  ‘ _God, she’s as fidgety as her son.’_

“But I imagine you would have preferred that decision not to have been to marry me.”  She pushes.

Lynne stares at her seemingly deciding what to say and what not to say.  “Look you seem like a very nice person and Matt has always spoken highly of you.  It’s just…..”

“It’s just you wish I was closer to his age than yours?”  Alex finishes for her. 

Lynne seems to deflate when faced with the truth.  “Well…..yeah.”  Watching the inner turmoil on Lynne’s face she is reminded of her own.

Sitting up taller, “Lynne…..”  She waits until she has her attention.  “I’ve had that same fight with myself every day since the day I met your son.  I knew I was too old for him and that he should date someone young, someone who could give him a family.” 

Lynne sat up leaning on the table as she listened.  “I constantly encouraged him to date, and I was happy for him when he seemed happy with Lily.  At least I tried to be.  I had even thought I had found someone for myself.  But the truth was Matt had already claimed my heart and it wasn’t fair to enter into a marriage with only part of my heart to give.  I tried to kid myself that I could keep him as my friend but that only hurt more.  So we stayed distant with one another because being close hurt when we couldn’t have what we really wanted. “

“I wasn’t really sure of his feelings until Nevada.  Honestly I wondered if I had made it all up in my head but when he confessed his love for me and I him there wasn’t anything that was going to keep us apart.  I know it probably wasn’t the smartest thing for us to do but honestly it was the only thing our hearts were willing to live with.  I love your son.  I love him more than anyone in this whole world, except my daughter.  I will do anything to make him happy because he makes me so very happy.”

When she finished she resumed her tea giving Lynne time to consider all of that.  After a lengthy patch of silence Lynne finally spoke.  “I can see what he sees in you.  I want him to be happy, I do.  I’m still not sure the difference in your ages isn’t going to cause you difficulties but I’ll say no more about it.  That will be for the two of you to work out.  But you seem to make him happy…..I want that for him.”

They seemed to have formed some sort of truce or ….friendship would definitely be too strong a word but at least Lynne Smith wasn’t out to sabotage her marriage.  She wouldn’t have blamed her if she had wanted to.  They spent the rest of the afternoon pleasantly getting to know one another.  It wasn’t until she heard his key in the door that she realized that hours had past.

“Alex….I’m ho…me.  Mum, what are you doing here?”  The look on his face was so adorable at how scared he looked seeing his wife and his mother having tea together.

“Matthew, I’ve taught you better manners than that.”  She scolded as she met him to give him a hug.  He caught Alex’s eye and seemed to be able to breathe again when she gave him a wink.  As they parted she reminded him, “Remember I have that thing with Laura tonight.  I thought since I was in London to stop by to see my son and his new wife.”  She gestured back towards Alex.  “We’ve been getting to know each other.”

“Um, really?”  His voice betrayed his nervousness at the prospect of his wife and his mother talking, alone …. _for how long?_

Alex began to laugh.  “Oh darling you should see your face!  What on earth did you think she told me?”  Then to Lynne, “And you’ll need to be sure to tell me the next time.”  Matt turned crimson at the prospect of a next time.

Lynne chuckled as well.  “Maybe I’ll bring the photo album next time.”  She teased.

“Mother, you wouldn’t?!?”

“That’s true, probably should wait until you make a trip to Northampton.”  She patted his chest.  “So when will that be?  Your fathered would like to see you….both of you.”  She says while her eyes travel back and forth between them.

“Not sure….I’m fairly busy right now with filming but that should let up in a few weeks.”  He offers.

“Well that would be good.”  She kisses him on the cheek as she begins to head out.

As if he suddenly realizes what he agreed to he adds, “But no photo albums!”  He wags his finger at her.

Smirking back at him as she pushes into her shoes she chides.  “I make no promises after all you did cheat me out of a wedding album.” 

Alex comes behind him wrapping an arm around his waist.  When he feels her beside him he does the same.  Together they meet Lynne at the door to say their good-byes.  “Lynne, I’m glad you stopped by.”  Without even thinking about it she leans in giving her a hug.  She’s elated when Lynne hugs her back.

“It was nice getting to know you Alex.  Let me know if you have any trouble with this one.”  She pats Matt’s chest.”

“Oi!”

Turning she takes her son in her arms hugging him tight.  “You be happy.”  She whispers in his ear.  When they part she tries to hide the tears at the corners of her eyes.  Within moments she is out the door and back in her car.

He turns to her pulling her close to his chest.  His hands sift through her curls calming them both with this familiar gesture.  “So how’d that really go?”  He mumbles into her hair.

“Better than I thought it would, darling.”  She answers honestly while she listens intently to his heartbeat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	21. One Day, Someone Will Walk into your Life and  Make you see Why it Never Worked Out with Anyone Else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the delays in posting.....this isn't even my fault. We have been having terrible storms here that keep knocking out the power so using electronic devices or connecting to the Internet weren't a possibility. I'm glad your all still with me as Alex may need a little extra support in the coming chapters.

About a week after they are back in the UK Lily surprises everyone when on the Jonathan Ross show she announces that she is happy for Matt.  He was lovely and they had a nice time but they had both decided they weren’t the one for the other.  She admits they had already been finished for several weeks before his marriage to Alex. 

He hadn’t seen it but is relieved when Lor calls to tell him about it.  Later he takes a walk out in the back garden and gives Lily a ring.  He thanks her for what she said.  He knows she didn’t have to do that and he wanted her to know how much he appreciated it.  She reiterated to him that she was happy for him and that she hopes Alex knows how lucky she is.

This seems to ease things up a bit, especially on the UK side of the globe.  The papers seemed to take the stand that if the ex was fine with it then maybe there wasn’t much of a story there.  It hadn’t hurt that Prince Harry had been spotted with a very young model at Ascot. 

Alex ventures out for auditions again but she can’t help but feel that everyone is judging her.  Matt assures her each night of his love and reminds her that it doesn’t matter what others think.  “They don’t get to have an opinion.”  It helps greatly that she is lining up some great work both on stage and television.

Despite everything Matt and Alex are building a life together.  It’s rather ridiculous how easily things have come together.  Merging their households turned out to be a much easier task than would have been expected.  Matt had never really ‘decorated’ his bachelor pad.  Admittedly he hadn’t spent much time in it having been in Cardiff a great deal and then on film locations. 

He’d always loved Alex’s rather bohemian style of decorating.  He said it always made him feel at home.   Alex had always kept her UK furnishings at Nicola’s when she didn’t have a place in the UK.  Shortly after they purchased a brand new bedroom set for just the two of them she became anxious to get the rest of her things.  Matt couldn’t wait either for her things to be interspersed with his making what was once his place feel more like ‘their place’.    

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Of course this meant they had to face Nicola.  If Alex was honest it was the one reason she hadn’t gone to get her things already.  Despite Alex being the older sister, Alex has always felt that her sister was the role model.  She had the more stable life with a loving husband, sons, and a large country house.  In short Alex envied the life her sister had because it was the one she always wanted for herself. 

When things went so very wrong with Ralph, Alex threw herself into her career in a way she’s not sure she would have had he agreed to have babies and love only her.  It’s not that she regrets her career but it was not all that she had wanted for herself.  When she married Florian and they tried for their family she thought she could have it all: a family and a career.  That hadn’t really worked out as she hoped either.

So as much as she loves her sister it would hurt sometimes to see her living the life she would never have.  Being with Matt she feels like he was the one she was waiting for, the one she was supposed to make a life with.  She wants her sister to see that, to see that together they are as happy as she is with her husband, and that this isn’t a lark.

They hired a lorry for the weekend to bring her things back to London from Surrey.  She’d offered to do it herself with some hired movers but he would have none of it.  “Alex, we can do this ourselves.  Besides I can’t wait to meet your family.” 

After talking it over with Nicola it was decided to make a weekend of it.  Saturday they would load up the lorry, and then have dinner with Nicola’s family and her parents.  Matt had met Nicola once or twice when she was in London but he had never met Alex’s parents.  The fact that none of them were happy about their marriage made them all a bit nervous.

Matt tried to keep things upbeat on the trip up masking his own fears of how this weekend would turn out.  As the GPS shows them within a mile of Nicola’s he takes her hand in his kissing it softly.  “You know I love you right?”

She smiles back.  “Of course.”

“Good, then nothing else matters!”  His smile lights up his face causing hers to go wider.  Her heart becomes lighter knowing he is there for her and she believes (almost) that what her family says won’t affect her.

They pull into the driveway about half eleven.  Alex’s nephews are playing out front kicking a football around.  Immediately Matt’s eyes light up at the prospect of playing a little footie.  She quells his enthusiasm by saying, “How about if you wait until after we have the lorry loaded.”  When he pouts she adds.  “We need to be ready in case we have to make a quick getaway.”  She laughs but he can see her fear lying just beneath the surface.

He agrees with a “Yes, dear”, and a peck on the cheek. 

When they exit the vehicle her nephews run in their direction.  “Auntie Alex!” 

“Hey there!”  She pulls them into her arms for hugs.  “I can’t believe how tall you both are getting.  You’ll be taller than me soon.”  Matt snorts at her side.  “Hush you.”

“Auntie Alex, you brought the Doctor!  Cool!”  They look over at Matt somewhat in awe that the Doctor was actually at their house.

“Mark, Peter this is Matt, my husband.”  It felt odd introducing him as her husband but at the same time it felt right as well.

“Whoa!  So River Song really did marry the Doctor?”  Young seven year old Peter asked.

They both laughed at his innocence.

“Of course you moron, don’t you pay attention to anything.”  Mark mocked his (whole year) younger brother.

At that moment Nicola came from the house to join them.  “Hey boys I think your dad could use a hand in the storage shed.”  Turning back to Alex, “Hey there sister.”  She takes three strides over to wrap her arms around her.  The hug lasts a little longer as they both are grateful for the other; Alex for Nicola not giving up on her and Nicola for Alex not being too disappointed in her not to.  When they part they both are a little misty eyed.

They both try to act as if the moisture is allergy related but Matt can see the emotion unsaid between them.  “Nicola, you remember Matt.”

“Yes, hello again.”  She puts her hand out to shake his hand.  “I guess congratulations are in order.”

He bypasses her hand to pull her into a full body hug.  “Nicola, how are you? And thank you for the congratulations.”  Stepping closer to Alex he brings his arm around her.  “We are very happy.”

The afternoon goes by quickly as they all are having a good time loading the truck.  Nicola doesn’t miss an opportunity to mock her about her furniture pieces and why she has some things dating back to her uni days.  Matt smiles as he sees Alex light up with mock indignation volleying back to her sister just as quick with her own choices.  It is all very lighthearted and he can see how close they are that they can both enjoy such teasing.

When he thinks no one is looking he steals a kiss from Alex as she passes by him.  When little Mark catches them, he shouts to his mum, “Mum!  Auntie Alex is kissing the Doctor!”  They both go crimson but then she shocks him by sticking her tongue out at her nephew and then pulling him in for another kiss.

When the truck is finally loaded they fall into chairs in the back garden.  Nicola has brought out lemonade for everyone.  “Thank you all for helping load the lorry.  We really appreciate it.”  She reaches over for Matt’s hand as she addresses her sister and her husband.

Her sister smiles watching them interact but says nothing.  “What time are you expecting mum and dad?”  Alex asks.

Nicola looks at her watch.  “In probably about two hours.  I hadn’t realized how late it was.  I better get dinner started.”  She jumps up realizing how dirty she is from moving furniture in the warm air.  “I think I’m going to need a shower first however.”  Picking up glasses she begins to head in.

“I’ll be along in a minute Nicola to give you a hand, after I get a shower myself.”  She nods but keeps heading to the house.  Turning towards Matt, “You’re going to need a shower too darling.”

“Yes dear, I know.”  He deadpans.  She sticks her tongue out at him and he crumbles in laughter.  Just then Mark and Peter run up to him.

“DoctorMatt”  He had tried to get them to just call him Matt but that was as far as they had gotten.  “DoctorMatt can you play footie with us.  Daddy says you almost went pro.  Is that true?”  Their eyes seemed to go wide that not only was he the Doctor but that he could have been a pro football player.

“Well pro may be a bit of an exaggeration.  I was hoping I could be someday but life had other plans.”  He looked over to Alex realizing for the first time that if he would have gotten his first dream of being a professional football player that he might not ever have met her.  For once leaving that dream behind didn’t seem so sad.

It was young Peter who piped up.  “So can you teach us some tricks?” 

He looks over to Alex, “Just for a little bit?”  He has his begging face on, the one she can never resist.

“Oh go on you but you all need a shower before Oma gets here.”  He jumped up from his chair, kissed her cheek, and stole the ball from Mark before they had even realized what she said.

As they were chasing after Matt, their dad let them know that he would join them as soon as he locked up the shed.  She stopped when she got to the house looking back at him.  The glee on his face as he maneuvered the ball between the boys made her smile.  _He is such a child; probably why I love him._

After her shower she joins Nicola in the kitchen.  While her sister prepares the chicken Alex chops the vegetables.  Seeing her boys running rings around Matt in the back garden she can’t help but see how wonderful he is with kids.  “Matt seems to be enjoying himself with the boys.”  When Alex looks her way she points with her head to the window.  Coming over she looks over her sister’s shoulder just as Mark steals the ball from Matt as he is doing an uppie.

“Yeah, he doesn’t get much of a chance to play anymore.  Back when he was on Who he would play with some of the crew.”  She can’t stop smiling as she goes back to the chopping.  It takes her a few minutes before she notices her sister watching her.  “What?”

Shaking her head Nicola says, “I don’t know you just seem so, so ….happy.”

The blush creeps up her face as she thinks about how happy she is.  “That’s because I am.  Is that so hard to believe?”

“I don’t know.”  Coming closer she says, “Alex you know I love you.  I don’t mean to give you a hard time about this.  I just worry.”

Alex nods her head.  “I know you do but you don’t have to worry.  I’m….we’re very happy.”  Nicola nodded in understanding.  Just as she was going back to preparing the chicken she heard the front door open.

“Hello, we’re here!”  The unmistakable sound of their mother’s voice echoed from the front hall.” 

Nicola and Alex both look at each other panic written across their faces.  “Holy shit they’re an hour early!”  Nicola quickly washed her hands so she could greet her parents; Alex chose to stay behind pretending to still cut the already cut vegetables.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	22. I Just Feel Complete When You’re By My Side

From the other room Alex can hear her sister greet their parents making apologies for dinner not being ready yet.  _Why is she apologizing to them?  They are the ones an hour early._   She will never understand why her sister continues to grovel for their mother’s affection. 

Alex on the other hand has come to terms with the fact that she will perpetually disappoint her mother in some way, at least that’s the mantra she is playing in her head.  The truth is the little girl in her keeps hoping that one day her mother will accept her and be proud of her.  Closing her eyes she berates herself for even entertaining the notion knowing she will only be disappointed yet again.

Hearing them heading to the kitchen she knows she can put it off no longer.  Wiping her hands on her apron she looks up as they enter, “Mutter!  Father!”  She gives them both a hug kissing her father on his cheek.  Nicola has gone back to readying the meal leaving her to entertain her parents.  _That traitor!_  

Looking around the kitchen Alex is fairly certain what or should she say who her mother is looking for.  “So Liebling, where is your husband?” 

A smile returns to Alex’s face as the subject of her love comes up.  “Oh he’s outback with the boys.  They’re playing a little footie while we were getting dinner ready.”

 

Her mother shuffles over to the window over the sink taking in the sight of her grandsons, their father, and an older boy kicking the ball around.  “Where?  I don’t see him.”

Alex comes over next to her just as Matt kicks a goal shot.  “That’s him right there; the one who just kicked the ball.”

“Him?  But he looks sixteen?!?”

“M-u-t-t-e-r!”  She exasperates before moving next to Nicola in the pretense of helping with dinner.  Nicola tries to stifle a giggle but is unsuccessful; Alex knocks her with her hip quieting her down.

That is the moment that Matt, Mark, Peter, and Michael pile in through the backdoor sweaty and grimy looking for a cool drink.  Seeing their grandparents the boys shoot in their direction.  “Oma!  Opa!”  Temporarily occupied by their grandsons; Matt slides over next to Alex.  He couldn’t help but notice how pale she looked when he came through the door.

With hellos said Nicola shoos the boys off to get baths sending Michael to supervise while she tries to get dinner in the oven.  With no other diversions Alex has no choice but to introduce her husband to her mother for the first time covered in grime and sweat with a giddy look on his face like the twelve year old she always accuses him of.

“Mutter, Father this is my husband Matt.”  He immediately shakes their hands apologizing for his appearance.  She closes her eyes in defeat.  God knows he’s trying but he only seems to be making his case worse that he really is a randy teenager the more he rambles on.

As quickly as she can she pulls him away from the kitchen and up the stairs to the guest room.  She shows him how to work the shower and leaves him with strict instructions to wear the clothes she has left on the bed.  As he strips out of his grubby clothes he wonders why she is so keyed up.  He watches as she is pacing the small room her fingers rubbing her temple trying to regulate her breathing.  “Kingston, what’s the matter?”

“Oh, she gets me so angry sometimes.  Nothing I do is ever good enough.  I get so mad I could just scream.”  She’s practically shaking in anger.

Within seconds he presses his naked body against hers.  “I could make you scream if you want.”  His eyebrows rise up in invitation.  Her lip lodges between her teeth as she contemplates letting him.  As she calms down in his arms a cooler head prevails.  “Thank you darling but I probably should get back downstairs.”  He pouts but gives her a kiss anyways.  She watches as his cute arse walks back to the ensuite.  “Oh Matt?”

“Yes?”

“But I’ll definitely hold you to it later.”  She purrs causing him to stumble over the threshold or possibly air.

Regaining his dignity he beams back at her.  “Looking forward to it!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dinner doesn’t improve things much.  Her mother takes every opportunity to find fault with Matt or Alex from their career choices, to where they live, to how they chose to get married.  At least half a dozen times Alex nearly stormed from the table.  Holding her hand tightly against his thigh he kept her in place even when all she wanted to do was run.

It seemed that was what her mother was waiting for…..that one last thing that would push her away from the table.  Matt wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction.  When finally the evening came to a close Alex was exhausted.  Seeing her parents car pull out of the drive was enough to let her fall against Matt ready for this day to end.  “Let’s go to bed darling.  We still have a big day ahead of us tomorrow.”

She wasn’t fooling him nor probably Nicola either.   Her mother exhausted and exasperated her.  She needed time to regroup after their evening.  “Go ahead up love.  I’m just going to help Nicola clean up a bit.”

She looked weary of leaving him alone with her sister.   “Well, I can help too I suppose.” 

“No, no it’s ok.  We got it.  I’ll be up in a minute.”  He kissed her cheek before turning to pick up leftover teacups in the lounge.  She silently went to their room grateful for the alone time.  _Did he know?  No, he couldn’t have, right?_

Bringing the dirty dishes to the kitchen Nicola indicated where to put them as she began rinsing and loading the dishwasher.  When he brought in the last of it he leaned into the counter waiting for the right time to ask.  Sensing his need to ask her something she gave him an opening.  “What’s on your mind?”

Rubbing the back of his neck he wasn’t sure how to word this.  “Um, are all your family meals like this?”

She let out a sigh.  “More often than not, yeah.  Mum and Alex never got along even when we were kids.  It’s why when she left for University she never came back.  Our mother can be…..intense.”

He let out a breath.  “I suppose that’s one word for it.  Your dad seems nice.” 

“Yeah, dad’s a sweetheart.  We’re still not sure how those two ended up together.  Alex and I came up with a theory when we were in high school that mum told him he was going to marry her and he just went along with it.  It seems to have been his MO in life at least.”

Matt nodded his head.  “I probably should be getting upstairs.”  He pointed in that direction before heading off.

“Matt?”

“Yeah?”

“Be patient with her.  Mum always gets her so worked up.”  He nodded before resuming his path.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When he enters the bedroom she is already in bed, the covers all the way over her head.  He can’t help but smile how her mother can get her to act like a teenager.  Of course he knows better than to ever say such a thing out loud.

Sitting on the edge of the bed he peels the covers down revealing just her face.  “Hi!”  He smiles at her.

She wanted to be mad.  She wanted to sulk for a good long time but just one look at his precious face and she forgot why.  “Hi!”

Watching her he began to unbutton his shirt, undoing the cuffs, and pulling it from his body.  At the sudden expanse of uncovered skin she couldn’t help but smile at him.  Kicking off his shoes, he pulled off his socks before rising beside the bed taking off his trousers.  In only his pants he laid back down on top of her in the bed inches from her face.  “Now I do believe I have a promise to fulfill from earlier.”

She had to think a minute before a blush crept up her face.  “Oh yes, I believe you do.”

“I’ll make it a good one.”  His lips reached for hers.

“You better.”

Technically he made her scream twice but she wasn’t complaining……no, not at all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Disclaimer: I know nothing about Alex Kingston’s life, her parents, or her relationship with them. This is a work of fiction. In actuality I based this version of her mother on my own.


	23. Happiness is Being Married to your Best Friend!

The next day they head out after breakfast.  Despite the tenseness of the previous evening Alex is in high spirits.  Moving her things into Matt’s place along with the new bedroom set is turning it into their place and she can’t help but smile whenever she thinks of that.  _Their place……….._

Emptying the lorry with just the two of them was a bit daunting.  It was a lot easier when they had Michael, Nicola, and her boys to help them load it but they managed to get it all inside and approximately where they wanted it before collapsing on top of the bed.

Neither of them wanted to move as it would take too much effort.  He convinced her that what they needed was a pizza and a few lagers.  Agreeing he went off to order and find a couple of cold ones.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After splashing some cold water on her face she eyed the bathtub and vowed that before bed she was going to soak her tired muscles.

As soon as the delivery man had left they ate in near silence.  They were both ravenous not really having eaten since breakfast.  It had been a ridiculously large breakfast and they had foregone lunch but now they were starving.

When the pizza was gone and he was completing his second lager she announced she was going to go for a soak. He cleaned up the pizza box and the empty bottles before following her to the bedroom.

When he came into the washroom she was already lying beneath the bubbles resting her head against the side.  Her hair was piled high atop her head with just a few tendrils framing her face.  Even though he knew she was physically exhausted from the day and emotionally wrung out from last night he thought she looked breathtaking.

He sat on the edge of the tub, “Hey!”  Opening her eyes she saw him before her and smiled.  “I thought you might want a cold one while you soaked.

Her hands covered in bubbles she takes the lager from him and takes a long pull.  Beer is not normally her drink of choice but it was cold and relaxing and tonight it tasted just right.  Moving the bottle to the other hand she rests her bubbly hand over his rubbing circles against his skin.  “Why don’t you join me?”  She asks, her voice low and inviting.

“Are you sure?  I thought you might want some quiet.”  He thought about the previous evening with her mother thinking she might need some time to process that.

“Quiet sounds like a rubbish idea…..it will only lead me to thinking.”  He caught her meaning….she wanted a distraction.

“Ok, just give me a minute.”  He left the washroom and she could hear him rummaging in the hallway closet but for what she had no idea.  When he returned he had already removed his clothes except his pants and was carrying an assortment of candles.

“What’s all this?”  She asks when she hears the clanking on the vanity counter.

At first he smiled at her trying to be mysterious with his eyebrows (but honestly the boy had none to work with).  “I just remembered I had this out in the closet and thought they might be more enjoyable than the bright overhead light.

Her heart melted a bit.  He was such a romantic….how did she get so lucky.  “That sounds perfect darling.”  He lit them and she arranged them around the tub on the tile ledge.  When the last one was lit he shut off the light and slid out of his pants.

Getting in the opposite side from her he couldn’t help but smile at how the candle light reflected off her face.  Bringing his bottle to the center he offered her a toast, “Cheers!”

“Cheers, darling!”  She added as their bottle clinked.  Before he had gotten in he had put the spa jets on.  They both laid back letting the warm water spray on them soothing their tired muscles and letting their thoughts drift away from cross sisters and unyielding mothers.  Here in this moment it was only the two of them……just as they liked it.

Her hands came to rest against his legs where she absently stroked his skin in aimless patterns.  The feel of his skin against hers was so soothing to her.  Opening her eyes she looked over to him lying there enjoying the jets, the warmth of the water, and the company.  “Thank you darling.”

Her voice caused him to open his eyes to her, “For what?”

“For coming with me to Surrey, for putting up with my sister, and for keeping me grounded when faced with my mother.”

He gives her a look of such devotion.  “I am always there for you whenever you want me to be.”

Stifling a laugh, “That may be quite often when my family is involved.”  Her eyes looked at a far off point in the washroom.

“Hey,” He squeezed her knee until she looked at him.  “I’m here whenever you need me.”

“I always need you.”  Her voice sounded more breathless than she intended.

His face broke into a smile as he slid across the tub wrapping his long legs around her waist.  His hands stroked up her arms until they rested at her shoulders.  “As I always need you.”  He leaned down to kiss her only for her to meet him halfway.  He tasted like lager and pizza and her favorite, Matt.  Pulling him towards her she reclined against the tub as their tongues entwined with one another.

That angle brought his already hardening self to brush against her clit.  Wanting to slow things down just a little; he pulls back bringing her with him.  “Sweetheart, turn around.”  She does settling her back against his chest.  This gives him easy access to her lovely neck and shoulders.  He’s always found them so sensuous.  There are still plenty of bubbles thanks to the jets and he enjoys rubbing them across her chest and abdomen.  It’s a slow torturous feeling that is building within her but she doesn’t want to miss a moment of his hands on her.  It occurs to her that all too soon one of them will need to fly off somewhere for their career and she wants to have this memory to sustain her.

Her hands are not idle either.  One has snaked up into his hair feeling the luxury of his locks between her fingers.  The other has been tracing patterns on his thigh.  If the bulge she feels against her back is any indication he seems to be enjoying himself.  Turning slightly in his arms she seeks out his mouth needing to feel it against her own.

He eagerly obliges kissing her while his hands roam over her skin.  The feel of his long fingers across her bare skin with only a few bubbles inbetween sets her alight.  When he palms her breast she can’t help but feel that his hands were made just the right size for her.  As her tongue twines with his his fingers delight in having her nipples respond to him going taunt with the flick of his finger. 

He pulls her so her back is tight against his chest.  Whimpering at the loss of his lips on hers he quickly begins to kiss down her neck and across her shoulders while he continues to palm her breasts.  When he switches to the other side of her neck, his fingers skate across her abdomen, sliding gently through her folds.  Even in the water she can tell how wet she is for him, and it doesn’t go unnoticed by him either.

Using his long fingers he leisurely runs the pads of his fingers against her sex pulling the wetness up to her abdomen again and again.  It is a luxurious torture that she isn’t sure how much longer she can take before she either explodes or takes him inside her.  His lips nibbling at her earlobe send her over the edge with want.

Swiftly pulling away from him she quickly straddles his legs.  Trying to make this last she pulls him to her taking his lips hot and furious in her own.  The intensity of the kiss along with the throbbing between her legs has her sliding against his throbbing member.  Unable to hold off any longer he reaches between them positioning himself at her entrance which she gladly pulls inside her.  His mouth never leaves hers for a second as she slides herself up and down over his shaft feeling his need mix with hers before they both tumble through their orgasms.

Their kisses slowly move from their frantic pace to a more comforting brushing of their lips against one another.  He’s still seated inside her and she has made no attempt to release him.  They feel as one and neither of them want to break that bond.  “I love you.”  Her kisses extend beyond his mouth to his cheeks, eyes, nose.  She just wants the feel of him against her.

“I love you.”   He returns while one hand cups her bottom and the other strokes up her back.  He pats her bottom and she takes the hint letting him slide out from between her legs.  Turning she lays against his chest as his long arms envelope her making her feel more loved than she ever has in her entire life.

It’s quite possible that they may have stayed there all night content to be in one another’s arms but the water turned cold and it reminded them that their comfortable bed was only in the next room.  They held each other throughout the night.  That in itself wasn’t unusual but now they truly felt like they belonged to the other.  As difficult as it was to let others into their world each time they did it was like they recommitted to each other.  In the wake of disapproving mothers they silently vowed to always be there for the other.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is dedicated to FWvidChick.   
> I have been promising her a sexy bubble bath for ages. I hope it lived up to your expectations.


	24. In You I’ve Found the Love of my Life and my Closest Truest Friend

In the few weeks that they have been in England they have settled into their lives.  Having Alex’s things intermixed with Matt’s things brings a smile to both of their faces.  It’s just tiny things that they notice: his hairbrush sitting next to hers on the vanity, their shoes lined up near the door, her burgundy throw that has seen better days dangling over the back of his tan suede sofa.  All those little things that represent a life lived…..together.

Soon shooting for the BBC Independent will be going on location.  Originally Matt had been looking forward to that but now he doesn’t like the idea of being away from Alex.  They have found a rhythm that works for both of them.  If he’s honest with himself there’s a part of him that worries that if he’s not there that she could find reasons to run.  He had hoped she could accompany him on the location shoots but now that she has set up some guest appearances she’s not available.  He tries not to think about how much he is going to miss her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At least every other day Alex talks with Salome or they have a Skype date.  He’s grateful that their relationship is mending.  He could never have lived with himself if their marriage had irrevocably changed their mother/daughter relationship.  Most of the time she talks with her alone but sometimes Matt joins them for a Skype session.  When they are joking and laughing together it truly feels like family….somehow Matt always knew it would feel this way.

Alex is on the sofa talking with Salome on her laptop when Matt enters the flat laden down with groceries.  He had promised to pick up a few things on his way back from seeing his sister.  By the sheer number of bags she can tell he went overboard …….again.  “Matty!”  Salome shrieks when she sees him pass behind her mum.

“Hey there Poppet!  Let me put these down first.”  He says as he continues on into the kitchen.  On his way back to the door he stops for a moment.  “So how is sunny California?”  His hand casually rests on Alex’s shoulder as he leans on the back of the sofa.

The loud groan and the roll of her eyes surprise him.  “It’s been raining non-stop for two days!  I hate being stuck inside all the time.”

He has to chuckle at her.  “Sounds like a typical day in the UK to me.  Hey I need to get the last few bags from the car.”

“There’s more?”  Alex’s eyes go wide at him.

“I’ll be back in a minute.”  Before heading out he gives Alex’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

“I swear I need to chaperone him at the grocer.  He comes home with everything he sees.  He’s worse than you!”  Her daughter giggles at that remembering a few Tesco runs when she was younger and they lived in the Cardiff Flats.

After dropping off the bags he flops onto the sofa next to Alex beaming at Salome.  “So what’d I miss?  Any good gossip?”  He teases.

“I’m sure Mum will fill you in later.  What I want to know is if you have any good gossip for me?”  She gives him a penetrating look as if he should know what she is talking about.  He looks over to Alex who seems just at a loss.

“About?”  He prompts hoping a clue will help him out.

Rolling her eyes at him and then her mum she huffs, “Really?  I give you one assignment and you can’t even remember it?  What rubbish secret agents you guys are!” 

It takes him a moment but he finally connects the dots.  “Oh wait….you mean about Who?”

“Bingo!  About time……… _Doctor_!”  They all laugh.  He and Alex had completely forgotten about finding out some gossip for her.  To be fair they have been busy.

He at least had the forethought to look sheepish as he answered her.   “I am terribly sorry Poppet.  I did forget my primary mission.  I will get right on it in the coming week.  I should mention though they didn’t tell me a whole lot even when I was the Doctor so it’s probably going to be even harder now.”

“Well take Mum……they always told her stuff.” 

He looks over to Alex with a petulant look on his face.  “Yeah, they always did, didn’t they?”

She can’t stop herself.  She smiles at him and says, “Spoilers Sweetie!”

His face turned crimson at the thought that she still might have spoilers.  “NO!!!  You can’t possibly still have spoilers!”  He covered Salome’s face with his hand.  “I have ways to get that out of you now.”  He spoke in a hushed tone so only she could hear.

Her laugh is deep and loud.  “Oh god darling, you should see your face.  Salome do you see his face?  You are just hilarious.”  She can hear her daughter laughing through the laptop.  Resting her hand against his cheek she assures him, “Darling I promise I don’t have any more spoilers.  It’s just so much fun to see you riled up.”

Falling back against the sofa he crosses his arms acting as if he is really miffed.  “Well just for that I’m not going to share my goodies that I got at the grocer with you, so there!”  He starts to get off the sofa then slides back in front of the laptop.  “Bye Poppet!  I’ll see what I can do about Who gossip.  Love you!”  Then he was off the sofa and in the kitchen unpacking his bags.

Alex and Salome giggled at how ridiculous he was being but they loved it.  It was one of the things they loved about Matt that he could just make them laugh over the silliest of things.  After Alex said her good-byes she went to the kitchen to help but found he had already put everything away.  Leaning against the counter he had a large spoon in one hand and a pint of rocky road in the other.  “Oh that looks yummy, darling.”

“Yes, it is!  Too bad I’m not sharing!”  He made a show of clutching the pint closer to his chest.

“Oh really darling?”  She pouted stroking his arm, then his cheek before she began to nuzzle into his side.  When she began to nibble up his neck, taking his earlobe between her lips, he was a goner.  Using this to her advantage she plucked the carton of ice cream from his hands and ran to the other side of the kitchen smiling the whole time.

Looking at her enjoying her prize he mocked, “I hate you.”

“No you don’t!”  She managed between spoonfuls.  Feeling bad she sauntered back over to where he was leaning offering him a bite.  They shared spoonfuls until it was gone.  It was then that he declared that he needed her to ‘warm up’ his ice cream cold mouth.  _That_ took the rest of the afternoon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who are still reading. This is a busy time of year so sorry the updates have dwindled to once a week. I'm so glad you are still all following along.


	25. If Your Friends Don’t Make Fun of You, They’re Not Really Your Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All the Whoniverse goings on have me all a flutter. I almost feel bad posting this chapter and not a new Mattex fic inspired by all the fun down under but that's just not possible this week with RL getting in the way. I know! Really! How dare it!!  
> But maybe if I feel enough guilt about it I may be persuaded to post the next chapter a bit early.....now that one will make Mattex fans happy!!! (This ones fun too but more in a G-rated sort of way....)

After texting with Jenna, Matt learned that they would be in Cardiff filming this week in the studio.  This coincided with some filming Alex needed to do in BBC Wales for a possible new series.  When he managed to get his days off on the same two days they were off to Cardiff on their secret mission for Salome.

He drops Alex off at the studio she will be filming in before heading over to Roath Lock studios.  Steven was expecting him so he had no problem getting in.  Walking around the studios he remembers the many hours he had spent here.  In some ways it hasn’t changed at all, and in others it’s unrecognizable.  He says hi to several of the crew as he makes his way to the TARDIS set where they are shooting today.  Beven in lighting stops to chat with him for a few minutes asking if he has time for a match while he’s here.  His eyes light up at the prospect and he promises to make time.  “Just text me when and where.”

When he finally made it to the set it was live so he waited in the background watching as Jenna and Peter completed their scene.  They really were wonderful together he noted.  Although he thought his Doctor and Clara got on well; he could see how her character had evolved into something more with Peter’s doctor.  He was trying to decide how he felt about that when he heard the director yell, “Cut!”

Long before he made it over to Jenna he was besieged by wardrobe and hair/makeup getting their share of hugs.  He also knew this was the best place to get the gossip so he continued to mine them for all they were worth.  Soon it was quiet on set again as the next scene was ready to be taped.

After the third scene they were given their lunch break and Jenna made her way over to the hubbub in the back.  With her hands on her hips she called him out, “I knew it was you back here causing the girls to go all faint!”

“Hardly….look there all still standing.”  He smiled his pretty smile waving an arm back to the ladies in hair/make-up and wardrobe.

“Well, you must be losing your touch then.  Married life making you go soft?”  She continued to tease.

He sticks out his tongue at her before wrapping his long arms around her tiny frame in a big bear hug.  She had missed those hugs but not the ‘noogies’ he gave her when he was finished.

“Off my head!”  Looking over at hair and make-up.  “You saw that.  If my hair is all messed up it’s not my fault.”

“Saw what dear?”  Ada from hair said. 

She huffed, “Oh…”  Giving him a shove, “you are still their favorite!”

“The Doctor is always our favorite, dear.”  Ada purred.

Just then Peter joined them, “Did I hear my name?”

Jenna had to giggle.  “Actually I think they were referring to Matt that time.”  Peter looked terribly hurt to be left out but thankfully Ada came to the rescue.

“Actually we were talking about ALL the Doctors.  Look ladies, two of them…….the mind races!”  They all giggled while they headed out to lunch.  Matt smirked, Peter blushed, and Jenna rolled her eyes.

“Anyways, Jenna here’s your phone.  You left it in your chair.”  He then turns to Matt.  “So how’s it going Matt?  I understand congratulations are in order.”

A smile took over his face, “Things are going great!  And thank you for the congratulations.  I will pass them on to Alex as well.”

“So you married the wife?  I certainly didn’t see that coming.”  Peter said.

Jenna chimed in, “That’s only because you never saw them together.  The flirting was off the charts with those two.”  She added, “You have no idea how many takes that ‘kiss’ took in the _Name of the Doctor_ ”.

Matt turned red all the way to his ears thinking about how many takes it _did_ take and how he had to hit the showers afterwards.  “So what brings you here today?”  Peter’s question dragging him from his thoughts of Alex.

He coughs.  “Well the wife is filming down the road for a new series; so I thought I would take Jenna to lunch so we could catch up.”

“That sounds nice.  I best leave you to it then.”  He makes to turn away.

“You can join us if you like.”

Peter hesitates, “I wouldn’t want to intrude.”

“No, not at all.  It might even keep her from hitting me so frequently.”

“I don’t hit you.”  She says as she swats his arm heading in the direction of the parking lot.

“See what I mean?”  Peter laughs and joins Matt as they walk behind her on the way to lunch.

Having the two of them come to lunch ended up being quite the good idea.  They started talking about things that happened on set and he was able to glean quite a bit from that as to what would be happening in the upcoming series.

He hung around at the studio after lunch saying hi to the production offices, editing, props, and the various other departments that he knew so well from four years of being the Doctor.  It wasn’t until nearly 4 that he finally ran into Steven.  “Hey Moff!  Thought I’d see you sooner.”  He gave the man who had been his boss and was still his friend a hug.

“Yeah, I’ve been in meetings all day.  Did you need to talk to me or can we get caught up at dinner?”  When Steven found out he was going to be in Cardiff he insisted that he and Alex join him and Sue for dinner.

“No dinner is fine.  I was just in the neighborhood.  Alex is filming for a new show a couple of studios down.  I had a break in my film so I thought I would stop by.”

“Well if I’m not being too rude I haven’t been in my office all day and there are some things I need to get done before I meet you for dinner.  Is 7 a good time?”

“Yeah, 7 works!”  He watched as Steven bustled off in the direction of his offices.  _‘Great, now what am I supposed to do for three hours?  Wonder when Alex is going to be done?’_   He wandered back to the TARDIS set but it was dark; apparently they were finished shooting there for today.

Walking up the ramp into the set it felt odd.  It was mostly like it was when he was the Doctor but there had been some definite changes.  He couldn’t help but feel like he shouldn’t be here, that he no longer had that right to stroke the console and fiddle with her levers.  At the same time it gave him the sense of home, in a way only Alex does.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	26. The First Time I Saw You, My Heart Whispered “That’s the One!”

He’s not sure how long he was there caught up in his nostalgia when he heard, “Hello Sweetie!”  Looking up Alex is leaning against the TARDIS doors giving him a smile that makes his heart soar.  Unable to stop himself he plays along.

“Hello there Doctor Song.”  He works his way around the console stroking against buttons and levers as he does.  “To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?”

She sashays up the ramp to where he is leaning against the console.  Her hands slide up his chest as she leans her body against his.  “I just missed you.”  Wearing heels she didn’t have to reach up near as far to capture his lips in hers.  His arms instinctively wrapped around her back pulling her impossibly close.  When they finally broke for air her pupils were blown and she was wearing that smirk that always preceded a bit of danger.  It was the same one she wore moments before she convinced him to steal the prop car in Utah and drive out into the desert in the middle of the night.

Looking at her intently he can’t help but wonder what she is up to.  She slid out of his arms taking her own nostalgic walk around the console.  This wasn’t really the one she was familiar with; this was the one after the Ponds.  She felt a little pang in her heart at the knowledge that the Ponds, including her were gone from the Who universe.  But before they left for good she had a fantasy that needed fulfilled.

Watching Matt from the corner of her eye as she stroked the console and fiddle with the levers she asked, “So do you know who I am yet?”

He smirked that they were still playing this game but he wouldn’t be the one to stop first.  “You’re my wife!”

Her eyes went wide at that revelation along with a satisfied smile.  “Yes, I am!  So husband….”  She purred as she had worked her way back around to him.  “Care to show me the stars?”  He bopped her nose as he spun around flipping switches, toggling levers, and twisting dials.  When he hit the lever that always threw the TARDIS into its launch sequence he seemed disappointed that it remained quiet.

Coming to where he stood he turned when she approached.  She rested her hands against his chest reaching up for his bow tie only to be disappointed by its absence. “Matt!”  She looked into his eyes waiting for him to look back.  “We can’t relive our time as River and the Doctor…..they have moved on.”

He nods remembering all the changes he had seen throughout the day.  “I know.”  He answered sadly.

“But…..”  There’s that smirk again and it makes him take notice.  “For four long years I thought about what it would be like for you and I to have a bit of fun on the TARDIS console.”  His breath hitched.  “I would very much like for Alex and Matt to have that.”

“You too?”  His eyes wide.

“Me too, what?”  Her face scrunched up.

“God, Alex I have wanted to have you against this console….well not this console….the other one….but you know what I mean……….ever since that night we practiced the flight sequence until midnight.”

“The flight sequence??  Darling that was the first week we met.”

He turned them pressing her backside against the side of the console.  “I know….”  His voice was deep and ragged and she could feel him already hard at the prospect of what they were about to do.

Reaching for his hand she begins to tug him away, “Ok, but not here.”

“What!?!”  He whinges.  “But I thought the whole idea was…..”

Before he had finished she turned on the spot cutting off what he was going to say.  “Do you trust me?”

A smile filled his face.  “Always!”

An equally brilliant smile filled hers, “Then follow me.”

Tugging him down the stairs she stepped off the set platform plunging them into almost darkness.  As their eyes adjusted to the dark she was able to make her way over to another set of doors.  Pulling him behind her she tugged him into the TARDIS, his original TARDIS.  Looking back she had to smile at the childlike wonder that filled his eyes as he saw it again.  This was when he was her Doctor and when she first fell in love with him.

“How’d you know?”  He asked incredulously.

It was too easy to stop herself, “Spoilers!”  She purred while holding her finger to her lips.

“Oh, you infuriating woman!”  He growled as he grabbed her throwing her over his shoulder.  Protesting she smacked his back as he made his way to the console.  Once there he carefully brought her forward so that her bum rested on the edge near the monitor and her face was even with his.  “Hello wife.”

“Hello husband.”  She smiled back.  His patience exhausted he leaned into her capturing the lusciousness of her lips in his own.  Her hands immediately snaked under his jacket pressing against his rib cage.  Tightening his hold on her, one hand rested at her lower back keeping her close while the other snaked up into her curls giving him the feeling of coming home. 

When they finally parted for breath they still hadn’t let any space come between them.  He looked at her beautiful face with just the faint echoes of light around them.  This TARDIS always gave off warm glows of light and that hadn’t changed even with very little to work with.  His fingertips traced her cheek and her jaw thinking of how many times he had thought of her in this very place. 

At this moment their thoughts were quite similar.  It nearly took her breath away thinking of all the times she had watched him while he was here in this TARDIS.  It could be in a scene that they were filming or rehearsing or it could be from across the stage where she secretly watched him in whatever he was doing.  “You know I used to watch you.”  She admitted.

“Really?”  He sounded surprised as his hands slid down her body caressing her thighs till they met her tiny feet.  Taking one in his hands he removed her shoe and with the look of delight that the Doctor would have in finding a new galaxy he placed it on the rungs of the monitor.  She giggled then watched as he did the same with the other shoe.

“You’ve been dying to do that again, haven’t you?”  Her face a look of disbelieving amusement.

“Yep!”  He gave her an unabashed grin.  “This too!”  He gathered her close in his arms, his legs between hers as she rested against the console.  It didn’t take much to encourage her to wrap her legs around him. 

“I don’t remember this part.”  She teased.

“We..l.l….”  He traced the contour of her nose with his fingertip.  “That’s because before now that only happened in my fantasies.

“How’s reality holding up?”  Hers eyes sparkled.

“Pretty well….can’t say I’m disappointed at all…..of course it will be much better when I get you out of this dress.”

“Matt!  We are still in the studio.”  She reasons with him.

“Right!  Dress stays on…..I can work with that.”  His one hand slides around grazing her breast as she throws her head back inviting his lips against her neck.  As his lips kiss along her throat his hands trace the edges of the bodice of her dress.  It’s not the same type of dress River would wear but then he thinks Alex looks great in anything. 

Pulling at his t-shirt she slips her hands beneath making his skin pebble as she drags her fingertips across it.  He finds her lips again and finds she is eager to kiss him back.  His mind races with the thoughts of how many times he had wondered what Alex would do if he had pressed her into the side of the console letting her ‘know’ how turned on he was at just the sight of her.  It turns out what she does is wind a leg around his thigh, slipping across his bottom, pulling him even closer to her.

He had pressed against her mouth once more to stifle the inevitable moan he would have produced as he could feel the warmth of her core so close to his throbbing shaft.  Each has deepened the kiss nearly forgetting where they are, knowing only that being with each other is all that matters.  Even with layers of clothes between them it was not difficult to feel the want coming from both of them.  The smell of her arousal wasn’t lost on him as his hand drifted down her chest to slide along her thigh.  As his tongue gnashed with hers his hand slid under the material of her dress dancing over her flesh.

The feel of his skin against hers caused her to grind mercilessly into his groin.  Gasping for air he pulled back to take in her blown pupils and her swollen lips.  She was a vision.  Taking a small step away from, he smiled at the sight of Alex perched against the TARDIS console.  Leaning into her, both hands anchored on either side of her pressing into the console he whispered into her ear, “I want to make you come all over these controls.”

She shivered at the prospect, smiling broadly at him.  “So what’s stopping you?”  Taking it as permission he slid his hands under her bum pushing her further up the console.  Both of his hands trailed down her legs then back up under her skirt.  The tingle of his fingers distracted her from him sliding her knickers off in one smooth move.  Her breathe hitched as the cool air hit her and his mouth drooled as the scent of her arousal reached him.  Casually he slid the panties into his back pocket before dropping to his knees before her.  Within moments he had her panting begging for him to take her over the edge.  He happily complied.

Looking down at him watching her from his place on the floor she is overwhelmed with how much she wants him, has wanted him, will always want him.  At this moment she realizes that he was always the one she wanted……from the first time they said hello.  Having them consecrate this special place with their lovemaking reminds her how foolish they had both been waiting so long to be together. 

She doesn’t want to waste another minute pulling on his hands till he stands before her.  Reaching out she traces his cock through his dark denims.  “Mmmm….come here darling.”  As he comes closer she undoes his belt and unzips him; her small hand flitting in between the opening of his boxers. 

He gasps as he feels her skin against his own.  So many years he had thought of her in this place and now that would have this as a true memory…….a shared memory.  His member already throbbing, her gentle hands almost feel painful, and after all this time he doesn’t want the fantasy to fall short.  “Alex.”  He grunts.  “I…I…”

“Yes, darling me too.”  Wordlessly she pushes his jeans and pants to his knees enjoying the sight of his stiff member anxious to feel him inside her.  He leans into her pressing his chest against hers, his hand drifting over her thigh, across her abdomen, then grazing her breast, before sliding into her curls and pulling her mouth to his.  His other hand guides himself to her entrance feeling the heat of her core radiate towards him causing himself to twitch in anticipation.

Her legs curl around him pulling him in closer until he slides inside of her.  Their mouths never part from one another taking in small breaths when they can.  When they both climax nearly at the same time it feels as if there are stars exploding overtop them….something that should only be possible if this were a real TARDIS.

They both hold on tightly to one another as they come down from their high.  Her legs still tightly fastened around him, their foreheads pressed together.  When he leans back is when he realizes that there are tears on her cheeks.  Gently he brushes them away kissing the skin beneath them.  “Why are you crying, Alex?”

“I…I..”  It seems it was her turn to not be able to find the words.  “I’m sorry.”

He couldn’t help but laugh a little.  “Why?  For what?” 

“For…..for wasting so much time.  We could have had this all along, couldn’t we?”

Smiling at her he tucked an errant curl behind her right ear.  “Oh love, it was never that simple….you know that.  We are here now.  That is all that matters.”  Gently he kissed her lips before pulling up his pants and jeans, then straightening her skirt.  He could feel her knickers in his back pocket but decided he liked the idea of her bare instead.

Pulling her from the console he leaned into her once more kissing her slowly hoping she felt his love.  “Are you ready?  I think we may need a shower before dinner with Steven and Sue.”

She smiled and nodded in agreement.  She tried to reach around to retrieve her knickers from his pocket but he swung out of the way.  “Nah….na….na.”  When she raised an eyebrow at him he squealed, “I like you just the way you are my bad girl!”  He bopped her nose and she giggled.  “Besides….” His lips so close to her ear that it made her breath hitch when he spoke.  “The thought of you naked under there is getting me hard again already.  We may need a long shower.”

Taking his hand they made their way to the TARDIS doors, stopping to take one last look around before closing this chapter in their lives.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FWvidChick got her fantasy a few weeks ago in the bath; now it was my turn in the TARDIS. I hoped you enjoyed it as much as I did.


	27. My Love for You Will Not Falter, it will not Weaken, it will not Diminish, even, with all the Miles Between Us

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **So here I am getting to write again in oh so long. Real life has been a butt kicker these past two months, then the rains came (literally). It rained and rained and rained until it started pouring into my house. So a lot has kept me from finishing this story but never had I considered not doing so. Ironically it is another day of rain that has cancelled school that has given me time to get back to the keyboard.

They managed to make it to the restaurant to meet Sue and Steven only twenty minutes late.  That was actually a small miracle considering how long their shower took.  Steven rose to greet Alex and shake Matt’s hand.  They both gave Sue a hug before taking their own seats.

“So you two, how is married life?”  Steven started the conversation.

They both grinned at each other before replying, “It’s good.  We’re good.”

They managed to get through dinner with only a few embarrassing moments.  Steven seemed to take great pride in “knowing” that they were destined from the first read through.  “Good god, the eyesex alone was a dead giveaway.”

Both Alex and Matt blushed realizing that they had never been as subtle as they thought they had been.  Sue tried to hush her husband when she saw how uncomfortable it was making them.  “Honestly as a producer I always thought you had great chemistry on the screen.  But as I have learned that doesn’t always translate off the screen.  I once worked with a pair who………………..”  Sue went on to tell of a couple who played lovers for the camera but in private loathed each other.

Matt, and especially Alex was happy for the diversion.  Although they knew now that loving each other was something that occurred long before either of them was willing to admit.  It wasn’t something they wanted discussed in public.  They had both had other relationships throughout their tenure and they didn’t want anyone to interpret that they had been having an affair all along.  Their relationship was far more important than any fling.

Steven watched them as the father figure he always saw himself as in regards to his show and his actors.  He knew when Alex called him why she wanted to meet Matt in Reno; even if she didn’t.  All the years of observing them on and off the screen, his late night talks with Matt……he knew.  He was just glad that they finally told each other.

By the time they finally said their goodbyes on the sidewalk outside of the restaurant they were all a bit tipsy.  The flow of good food, good wine, and good friendship made the evening a pleasant one.  As they were heading back to their flat in the taxi it occurred to Alex that that was their first public night out as a couple.  Distracted by the feel of her neck on his lips he barely heard what she was saying.  “That was our first time, darling.”

“Our first time what?” He pulled back looking at her with confused eyes.

“Our first time out as a couple.”  She smiled.

Comically he began to look out the side windows, then the back of the taxi.  Turning back to her he said, “And the world is still standing!”  She laughed at his silliness.

Pulling him towards her she whispered, “For now!”  She needed to feel his lips against hers and he was more than willing to oblige.  His hands began to roam forgetting where he was.  Luckily the taxi stopped in front of their place before he got too carried away.

They were barely inside the door before he pressed her against the nearby wall.  “Alex…”  His need for her had grown during the short taxi ride from the restaurant.  Thinking about all of those sexually charged moments when they had been filming filled him with a desire for her…a desire that he began to think would never be sated.  He wanted her.  He always wanted her.

Luckily for him her desires for him bordered obsessive as well.  She couldn’t help but wonder if this was just the ‘honeymoon phase’ of their relationship.  But even with Ralph or Florian she never felt this way.  She never felt like she would die without his touch or the feeling of him filling her.  She craved their connection and it seemed that Matt did as well.

Soon most of their clothes were shed on the hallway floor as he pressed her into the plaster walls.  The roughness of the walls contrasted to the gentleness of his kiss across her skin.  With only his mouth he brought her to her knees with her first orgasm.  Her second was while she leaned into the floor, her arse raised to beckon him.  By the third they were in their bed, the rest of their clothes shed, and he was tracing words of love over her with the tip of his tongue.

“I love you Alex.”  He said as he wrote those words across her abdomen.

She whispered, “I know.”

He stopped, looking up to her.  “Do you?”

Her eyes widened at him that he could ever doubt.  She reached for him pulling him to her.  “Yes!  I know that you love me as I know that I love you.”

“Because it won’t matter that I am not here in your arms, or in our bed, or even in our home with you.  I will always love you……no matter where I am.”

His words give her shivers both because they make her heart beat rapidly in the feeling of his love, and in the trepidation as to why he is saying them.

She can only manage one word, “Why?”

Taking her lips in his own he fills her with his passion, his love of her before mumbling, “I have to go on location next week.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	28. Motherhood is Spelled G-U-I-L-T

Matt’s been gone nearly two weeks and she should be missing him terrible…..well she is but that longing can’t dampen her euphoric spirits for the day.  ‘ _Her baby is coming!’_  

It’s been more than six weeks since she’d driven Salome to her father’s.  She would never admit it, to either Salome or Matt, but she was devastated when her only child asked to go live with her dad.  Even if it was temporary, the thought that she had hurt her baby enough to want to be away from her was overwhelming.  It wasn’t something she shared with Matt.  It was her own private mummy guilt and she waited until she was alone to cry those tears.

But here she was waiting at Heathrow airport for her flight to land, not even caring if anyone recognized her.  Standing right outside security she caught sight of her brown curls.  “Salome!”  Her own hesitant smile blossomed as she saw the joy on her daughter’s face when she recognized her voice.

“Mummy!”  She threw her arms around her still laden down with her carry-on bag.  Arms wrapped around each other they make their way to collect her luggage and then back to Matt’s…. _their_ flat. 

Matt had insisted that they make up his spare room, not the guest room for Salome.  “She’s not a guest Alex, she’s family.”  The rest of the day she couldn’t wipe the smile from her face, even when she found a pile of his football gear in the corner of the spare room that hadn’t been washed. 

Alex could tell Salome was affected by the gesture of her own room with how quiet she had gone while she was settling her in.  Coming over to sit next to her on the bed she prods her with her foot wondering why all the quiet.  “So Matt really doesn’t mind me being here?”

Alex looked at her with such a surprised look.  “Why would you ever think that he would?  You know how he adores you.”

She shrugs.  “Yeah, it’s just that was before.”

“Before what?”

“Before you were married.”

“Why would that change anything?”

Pulling one of the throw pillows onto her lap she rolls the edge between her fingers.  Alex recognizes her nervous habit and can’t help but wonder why she’s so nervous.  “I don’t know.  It’s just something one of my friends said.”

Wrapping her arm around her shoulder she asks gently, “What sweetheart?  What did they say?”

She bites on her lip before finally letting it out, “Well they said that the boyfriend will be nice to the kid until after they are married, then he doesn’t have to anymore.”

Alex chuckles a bit at that.  “Salome, you have known Matt for many years.  He has always been nice to you and has been your friend….and he was never my boyfriend.”  Salome laughs at that too.  “Besides Matt is just Matt.  He doesn’t play people.  He just is who he is.”  She cups her face so she can look into her eyes.  “When he tells you he loves you he truly means it.”  Leaning in she kisses her forehead.

“He was actually quite upset that he couldn’t be here when you were arriving but I assured him we wouldn’t mind a few days just the two of us.”  She holds her daughter tightly against her chest.  “So what would you like to do first?”

They go shopping, have lunch out, spend the evenings playing games and watching telly together.  It all seems so normal.  Salome doesn’t seem to be angry anymore and after their conversation about Matt that first day she doesn’t seem as nervous to be at ‘his place’.  She’s actually surprised how much of her mum’s things are there making the place feel as much hers as his. 

Still when she doesn’t think she’s noticed she sees a sadness in her; a sadness that Alex can’t bear.  Thinking it’s probably something else about Matt she finally asks the night before he is heading home.  She’s completely stunned when what is bothering her child is not about Matt but about Tom.  “Mum you should see him.  He just seems so sad when he comes to pick up Kayden.  Her and I have talked a little.  She seems worried about him.”  Her chest constricts as the guilt piles on.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Matt arrives back from his location shoot bearing gifts for ‘both of his girls’.  By an hour into his return Salome is wondering why she ever listened to her friends.  ‘Matty is not like other guys.’  She should have known when he Skyped her about all the set gossip he’d gathered from Who.  He took great delight in telling her, “Even your mother doesn’t know about this.  So if she asks….Spoilers!”  They both laughed at the possibility of getting her back for all the months she teased them with what she knew that they didn’t.

Matt was a little disappointed that every suggestion he made for an outing was shot down.  “The zoo is for little kids.”  Salome whined.  “We’ve already been shopping.”  She boasted.  “I don’t think I can handle seeing your Doctor at the Who Experience…..not yet.”

“Well…..what do you want to do?”  He asked defeated and out of suggestions.  He flopped onto the couch next to Alex who had seemed quite amused by their exchange.

There was a silence for several minutes.  It didn’t go unnoticed by Alex since that was a rarity with both of them in the room.  “I would like to see Buckingham Palace!”

Alex took in a large breath, “What?!?”  There had been so many times Alex had tried to take Salome to the Palace to learn about her English heritage but she had never wanted to go.

Salome looked over at her mum.  “Yeah, I know, I’ve never wanted to go before.  But as I’m getting older and learning about history, at least from an American perspective, I would like to learn a bit from an English perspective as well.”

Alex wasn’t sure how she felt about this development.  On one hand she was proud of her daughter wanting to embrace her English heritage but on the other…….she seemed just too damn grown up.  Digging her nails into her hands to keep from crying she smiled before looking over to Matt.  “Well I suppose it’s time to go see the Queen!”

Matt laughed at her reminding her that they only let the public in when the Queen was not in residence.  He hadn’t caught her dilemma of accepting a daughter who had grown up much faster than her mother had wanted.

As they were heading into the heart of London Matt announced, “I met Prince Charles once, you know?” 

They both rolled their eyes at him remembering when the crown prince had visited the set of Doctor Who.  “We know!”  They chimed together.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	29. It Hurts to Say Goodbye to Someone You Love But It’s the Best for Both of Us to Move On

After they say their good-byes to Salome, and Matt goes back to location, Alex spends quiet nights thinking about Tom and what Salome had said.  She feels such guilt for his pain.  She never wanted to hurt him but it seems she still is.

It’s not until Karen comes back to the UK does she feel she has someone she can talk with about this.  She can’t say anything to Matt; he would only feel that she regretted marrying him (and she didn’t).  She couldn’t talk to her sister….Nicola still wasn’t sure she had made the right decision in marrying Matt and wasn’t hesitant in pointing that out.

She was grateful that Karen suggested they meet at her hotel.  This is definitely not a conversation she wanted to have publicly or where Matt could walk in and hear.  She arrived at Karen’s room with a wine bottle stashed in her ridiculously large purse.  Matt was forever teasing her about it, wondering why she needed such an enormous thing.  It was times like these; it came in handy.

“Hey there, daughter.”  She pulled her into a hug.  “It seems like forever since I’ve seen you.”

“Oh not that long since LA.”  Alex reminded her of their visit shortly after her and Matt got married.

Karen laughed.  “Maybe for you but I have been….”  She stopped to count on her fingers.  “to 9 cities since then.”

“Good god…..are they working you to death?”

Karen bounced around like she always did not looking too worse for wear.  “No, not really.  Actually I’m having a blast!”

Producing the bottle from her bag Karen quickly surmised that Alex needed to talk.  After getting the glasses from the mini bar she poured them both a generous portion of wine.  Taking a drink of the lovely wine she said, “So what’s up Alex.  You look like you need to talk about something.”

So Alex began telling her about the guilt she felt for Salome, for Tom, for Kayden.  She poured it all out.  Karen listened quietly to her concerns, her guilt, and her worries.  When she felt Alex had said all she needed to she sat up to respond.  Now the thing you had to admire about Karen (and be ready to accept if you went to her for advice) is that she was going to tell you what she thought as straightforward as possible.

“Alex, I can understand that you are feeling a bit guilty for hurting Tom and Kayden.”  Alex winced at the acknowledgement that she had indeed hurt them.  “But Alex you can’t be responsible for Tom’s happiness at the expense of your own.  I think we both know that if you would have gone through with that marriage that you both would have ended up miserable.”

She takes another drink of her wine while she lets Alex settle with her words.  “Now I can’t lie; it would have been better if you would have ended things with Tom before going to Reno but what is done is done.”  Alex felt her stomach twist knowing she could have done things differently.  “You can’t change the past and I’m not sure you really want to.  So the only thing left to do is to go talk to Tom.”

Alex sputters, “What?!?” Nearly spilling her wine.

Sitting up Karen puts her wine on the nearby table.  Looking over to Alex she adopts her mother Pond persona before continuing on.  “Alex, you have to.  You need closure for yourself and for Tom.”

“But….but I did see him.  I told him we were over.  It nearly killed him.”  Quietly she thought, ‘and me.’

“That was then…..this is now.”  Still confused she urges Karen to continue.  “Alex, yes you told Tom about you and Matt and it hurt.”  Alex was beginning to regret having this conversation with Karen.  She’d forgotten how honest she could be in her observations.  “It hurt him ……and you.”  She reached out laying her hand across Alex’s arm.

“Now that some time has passed, Tom needs to hear the reasons why.  He wasn’t ready to hear them then but now he needs to understand.  The two of you were never going to work and he needs to see that as much as you have.  He may never forgive you….I can’t lie to you.”  Sometimes Alex wishes she would.  “But at least he can let go of the ‘what ifs’.  Cause honestly Alex I think you would have broken the engagement when you came back from Reno – marriage or no marriage.”

When Alex looks at her wide-eyed, she explains.  “After Reno, you would have known how you truly felt about Matt and you could never have married someone else knowing that.”  She nods knowing that was indeed the truth.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It takes a few weeks to arrange but with great trepidation she gets on a plane heading to LA.  She hadn’t told Matt her real reason for going there only that she wanted to spend some time with her daughter.  He never questioned it and that only made the guilt harder to bear.  She promised herself that when she returns she would tell him everything but for now it was going to take all that she had just to face Tom again.

After a few days spent with Salome, she knew she couldn’t put it off any longer.  Through Salome she learned that Kayden was at soccer camp this week so she knew he would be alone.

Her chest tightened as she parked the car in front of his place.  It didn’t seem any easier this time than the last time she had been here.  That had been nearly three months ago.  Knocking on his door she steeled herself as she heard the lock click on the other side.

“Alex?”  He seemed genuinely confused by her presence on his doorstep.

“Hi Tom.”  She smiled back at him.

He wasn’t quite sure what to say or do next.  After a few silent moments of them staring at one another he offered for her to come in.

Walking past him as he held the door she noticed the heavy lines in his face that she never remembered being there.  ‘This has been hard on him.’  She observed.

She allowed him to hide behind the process of making tea knowing all too well that he needed a moment to process her being in his house.  She was feeling the same.  Looking around she noticed that most everything was the same….except the framed photo of them that had been on the bakers shelf was replaced by a photo of Kayden.  ‘That’s understandable.’  She told herself.

She couldn’t help let out a gasp when she looked out to the back garden and noticed the lemon tree was missing.  There had only been those two trees in the yard so it wasn’t hard to miss.  That had been the last place she had seen him when she left falling to his knees before it.

He came up next to her handing her her tea.  Following her line of sight he knew she was missing the lemon tree but he wasn’t about to bring it up.  She was here in his house.  ‘Why exactly?’  It was up to her to talk first.

After her first sip she finally spoke her eyes never leaving the back garden.  “I suppose you’re wondering why I am here?”

His eyes too transfixed on the patch of lawn covering where the tree once stood, “You do have me curious.”  He wondered.

Finally turning towards him she asks, “Can we sit?”  She points towards the breakfast table not wanting to revisit the patio and its difficult memories.

He nods, “Sure.”  They make their way sitting adjacent to one another around the small wooden table. 

“I feel like I owe you an explanation.”

Raising his hand he halted her, “Alex, you don’t owe me anything.”

“I think I do.  You were always so wonderful to me.  You didn’t deserve what I did to you.”

“Then, why did you?”  She could hear the hurt muddled with anger seeping through.  He may have offered to spare her (them) her explanation but he needed it more than he would admit.

Fiddling with her mug against the placemat she willed herself the courage to tell him what he needed to know.  “There wasn’t anything going on between Matt and I while we were together.  I swear.  I wasn’t seeing him behind your back in case that is what you thought.”

That thought, amongst many had occurred to him with the suddenness of their relationship.  He nodded giving her permission to continue.

“The truth is I hadn’t seen him in over a year and we had barely spoken in that time.”  She could see his confused and possibly disbelieving look on his face.  “A few weeks before the convention I called him out of the blue.  I had had lunch with Karen and I was thinking about him.  We ended up talking for hours, then started talking every day.  I don’t think I really realized what was happening myself.”  She looked down at her finger tracing the rim of the mug.

Sitting up she pushes her hands through her hair.  “That’s probably not true.  I think I began to realize it but it scared me so much I tried to focus on us.”  Looking up at him she continued, “you and me….the wedding.  But I couldn’t seem to get him out of my head.”  She pushed away from the table and began to pace in front of it.  “I’m not sure I even knew what I was hoping to get out of going to that convention but I just seemed to need to see him.”

She paced further biting her bottom lip trying to decide how best to say what came next.  The last thing, the absolute last thing she wanted to do was hurt Tom any further.  “The truth is….”  She held on tightly to the back of the chair as she looked him in the eye.  “whether I would have gone to Reno or not I don’t think you and I would have worked.  I didn’t know it when we began but after talking to Matt on the phone and wanting to see him it started to become clearer to me.  It wasn’t until we spent time together that I knew for sure…..I had already been in love with him.”

He rubbed his hand over his face trying not to look at her.  She sat down and reached for his hand but he kept it out of her reach.  She understood letting her hand fall flat onto his placemat.  “Tom it wouldn’t have been fair to you to have married you when I couldn’t give you all my heart.  And I swear to you I didn’t know that when we began dating or even when you proposed or I never would have said yes.”

She went quiet, letting him process, her hand still lying there between them.  Its several minutes, she begins to wonder if she should just go when he responds.  Laying his hand over hers, he searches for her eyes before beginning.  “Alex, I never wanted to believe that you had been playing me this whole time.  It would have been easy to…..so Hollywood.” 

His hand curls around hers clutching it.  “But you were never that Hollywood type.  I knew that but my anger would get the best of me and I would lash out.  That’s what happened to the lemon tree.”  He pointed in the direction of the back patio.  “I couldn’t stand the sight of it any longer.  Every time I saw it or smelled the scent of the lemons I would remember that day and I had to get rid of it.”  She wanted to say something but thought it best to let him continue.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Anything.”

“Did you and he…”  He hesitated.  “Did you and he have something before us?”

“You mean like an affair?” 

“An affair….or some kind of intimate relationship?”  He clarified.

“No.  Matt and I never had any type of intimate relationship until Reno.”  He seemed surprised by her answer and he took several minutes to decide if she was telling the truth.  _‘But why would she lie now?’_

A few more awkward minutes passed before he asked his next question.  “Why did you come here today, Alex?”

He was still holding her hand and she couldn’t decide if she was grateful or uncomfortable….maybe a little of both.  “I wanted you to know that we weren’t a lie.  I loved you.  I cared about you.  I still do.  I don’t want you to carry that sadness and anger around in your heart thinking you could have done things differently.  We were never meant to be long term.  I’m just sorry that I let you (and myself) think that we were.”

She gave his hand a squeeze before gently pulling hers from his.  Opening her purse she pulls out his engagement ring laying it between them where their hands had been.  “I thought it was time I returned this to you.”

He stares down at the twisted metal that had been a symbol of his love for her.  “No Alex, I gave that to you.”

“I know and I accepted it with a promise.  It would not be right of me to keep when I have not upheld the promise.”

Continuing to stare at it he nods.  She pushes back the chair readying herself to leave.  He jumps up at the sound of the wood scraping across the tile reaching for her.  Holding her hand in his he waits until she looks at him.  He smiles.  “Thank you Alex.  Thank you for coming here today.  It helped.”  She nods nervously.

He steps forward bringing his arms around her until her head rests against his chest and his chin against her curls.  It seems as if several minutes have passed while he just holds her, processing all that she has said, before being brave enough to let her go.  She’s surprised by the tentative smile as they pull apart and even more so by the kiss he gives her temple.  “Have a good life, Alex.”

“Thank you.  I want the same for you.”  He walked her to the door and waited until she was in her car before closing the door.  She closed her eyes letting out a deep breath, one she felt like she had been holding since she walked up his path.

As she began her trip back to her home she felt the weight of that guilt lifting, not entirely, but enough that it no longer felt suffocating.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	30. There is No Love Without Forgiveness, and There is No Forgiveness Without Love

Flying back to London, back to Matt she feels free, free to love him fully for the first time.  She hadn’t realized how much the guilt and pain had been keeping her from fully immersing herself in this relationship.

Of course there was still the matter of telling Matt about why she really went to California.  She couldn’t help but feel as nervous as talking with Tom had made her.  She had no idea how he would react and who could blame him for acting badly.  She went behind his back to see another man.

Pushing her carry-on she’s fumbling to get her passport back into her bag when she bumps into ……… Looking up, “Matt!  What are you doing here?”

He grins back at her.  “Heard my wife was coming home today.  Where else would I be?”  Reaching over her suitcase he pulls her closer until his lips meet hers.  She throws her arms around him ignoring the awkward suitcase between them.

“Missed you, husband.”  She whispered against his lips as they parted. 

“Missed you more.”  He grins again pulling the suitcase from between them then wrapping his arm around her as they walk towards baggage claim.

He was being so attentive, taking care of her bag, getting her suitcases, all the while jabbering on about how Salome must have loved having her back home.  She was grateful that he hadn’t seen the look of guilt or worry in her eyes knowing what she needs to tell him when they get home.

When they get home he takes her bags back to the bedroom.  Expecting that she followed him he is disappointed that she isn’t within an arm’s length of him ….and their bed.  It’s been three weeks since she’s been home and he has plans.  He had barely been able to keep his hands to himself on the car ride home.

“Alex?” He calls as he walks back through the flat finding her sitting on the sofa.  He’s about to say something when he notices the worried look on her face and the way she’s rubbing at the edging on the throw pillow……something’s wrong.  In the car she had been so quiet, he had thought she was just tired from the trip.  But this is something more.  She didn’t even look at him when he came into the room.

Taking a deep breath he comes to sit next to her.  “Alex?  What is it, love?”

Finally she looks up but he can see that she’s worried.  _‘What’s going on?’_   “Alex, talk to me.  What’s this about?”

“I….I wasn’t entirely truthful with you while I was away.”  She began, her hands shaking as she spoke.

Tentatively he prodded her, “Ok, about what?”

“About why I really went to America.”  She wasn’t looking at him as she spoke but he couldn’t take his eyes off of her.  A large lump seemed to form in his throat not letting any sound out.  Reaching for her, he took one of her hands in his as she continued.

Having him hold her hand calmed her nerves, knowing he was there, hoping he wasn’t going to be too cross with her for not telling him this before she left.  “I know I said I was going to spend time with Salome, and that is still true.”  She assured him as she chanced a glance at his face.

The sheer terror his face wore made her insides squirm.  “But that wasn’t the only reason I went.  I had….. I had to see Tom.”

His eyes went wide at the mention of her former fiancé.  “Tom?  You had to go see Tom?  Why?”  He wasn’t sure what any of this meant but his hold on Alex’s hand grew tighter.

“Tom and I were planning a life together, with his daughter and mine.  What I did to him was so unexpected…..and so wrong.  He deserved better.”  He pulled his hand from Alex’s as if she’d burned him.  He rubbed it with his other hand while trying to steel himself for the rejection he was sure was coming next.

Sure that what she read in his eyes was anger that she had gone to see Tom; she hurried with the rest of it.  “I had to see him.  I had to let him know that it wasn’t him.  That this wasn’t his fault, that he’d done nothing wrong.  I didn’t want him blaming himself for us going wrong, that was all on me.”

Matt wasn’t sure what to do.  His instincts were telling him to run but his heart told him to wait, hear her out.  So he stayed, frozen, listening to her every word.

“I let him know that it wouldn’t have been fair for me to have married him when I didn’t have my whole heart to give him.  I wanted him to know that I didn’t know that when I accepted his marriage proposal.  I told him I didn’t know that I was already in love with you and that no other man would do.”  She smiled at him hoping he understood that she was choosing him again, as she always would.

Matt had been so steeled for rejection that he didn’t quite register her words.  “What?!?”

She reached for him, taking his hand in hers again.  “Matt, he needed to know that we would never have worked because I was already in love with you.  Even if I didn’t know it for a long time, my heart already did.”

“You’re….you’re in love with me?”  Even to his own ears his voice sounded shakey.

Her nose wrinkled as she gave him a perplexed look.  “Of course I’m in love with you.  Why would you ask……………oh!”  A moment of clarity finally hit her.  “You thought….”  She gestured towards him and then back at herself.  “You thought I was breaking up with you?”  He nodded his throat unable to form words.  “Oh darling, I’m sorry.”  She pulled him into her arms crushing him to her.  “I didn’t mean to scare you.  I love you.  I’m not going anywhere unless you want me to.”

He tightened his hold around her.  “I never …want you …to go …anywhere …ever again.”  He choked out.  She held him rocking them slightly as it seemed to give him comfort.  When he finally pulled back she could see the stain of tears on his cheeks and she knew she was the cause.

Brushing her fingertips over one cheek then the other she removed the physical evidence of his despair.  But as she watched his closed eyes she knew that this ran deeper.

“Matt….Matt, look at me.”  Slowly he opened his eyes peering directly into hers.  “Matt, I love you.  Talking to an old boyfriend isn’t going to change that.  I’m yours.”

“But Alex, you loved him….you..you we’re going to marry him.”  He started to say.

“Yes, but I married YOU.  I love YOU.”  She reassured him.  Her hands traced his face as she loves to do when she talks to him.  “Please tell me you know that?”

He diverted his eyes looking at a point on the wall passed her.  “I do…..I just…………I don’t know.  You went to see your fiancé.”

“Ex-fiancé.” She reminded him.

“I’m trying to understand why you would do that if you were happy with me……….with us.”  He still wasn’t looking at her afraid what her face would say.

“Matt, darling of course I am happy with you …………with us, absolutely.”  Before continuing she bit at her lip as she does when she is nervous.  “I felt so guilty……..I felt so incredibly guilty about how I had handled things with Tom.  He didn’t deserve that.”  She sat back taking his hand in hers, his eyes automatically fell to their connection. 

“When Salome was here she had mentioned how sad Tom seemed whenever she saw him, and that Kayden was worried about him.  It weighed heavily on me.  I knew I had to do something.  When Karen suggested I needed to talk to him, although I knew it was going to be hard; I also knew it was what I needed to do.”

He interrupted.  “Karen?  What would Karen know about this?”

“When she was over last time her and I talked about it.  It was her idea that I needed to give Tom closure.”

“But Alex, why Karen?  Why not me?”  He pleaded.

“Darling this wasn’t something I could talk with you about.”

“Why not?”  His voice a little louder than he intended.

“I think you just answered your own question.”  She smiled.  “I needed to talk with someone with an unbiased opinion.  Do you think that is something you would have been able to do?”

He twisted his mouth and averted her gaze giving her her answer.  “Yeah, I didn’t think so.  Karen is a good friend.  She was able to hear what I was saying and then tell me all the things I didn’t want to hear about it.”

He laughed for the first time since they had come home.  “Yeah, I’ve been on the receiving end of some of that Scottish advice before.”

“Yeah, so you see what I mean.  I needed someone to tell me the truth, even when it was the last thing I wanted to hear.  You could have never done that darling.  You would have wanted to spare my feelings.  And truthfully, I wouldn’t have wanted to put you in that position for the same reason to spare yours.”

“So you went to see Tom…..” He began while sliding closer putting an arm around her shoulder.  “How was that?”

She leaned her head against his shoulder speaking softly.  “It was hard….so hard but I think it helped.  I hope it helped anyways.”  They sat there leaning on one another for several minutes listening to each other’s heart beats and processing their feelings.

“Why didn’t you tell me before you left?” He asks.

She knew this question was coming and she let out a breath.  “Cause I thought if you knew you would have tried to talk me out of it.  And honestly I knew it was going to be hard and I was afraid that I might just let you do that.”

His hand is playing with her curls as he asks, “Are you glad you went to talk with him?”

After a few moments she replies, “Yeah, yeah I am.  It was hard but I feel a weight lifted and I think he did as well.  So in the end I think it was the right thing to do.”

“Then I’m glad you did.”  He nuzzled into her neck cuddling her.

 

“But can I tell you something?”  She prompted her eyes rising to meet his.

“Of course.”  He smiled as their eyes connected.

“I’m even happier to be back home with you.”  His face brightened with a smile that filled his face and sparkled his eyes.

“Not nearly as happy as I am love.”  He rested his palm against her cheek loving how she nuzzled into it. 

She stares at him her eyes full of love only for him, “Take me to bed darling.” 

It takes him only a moment to scoop her up in his arms and do just that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	31. Every Love Story is Beautiful, but Ours is my Favorite

They’re sitting at the kitchen table having breakfast, something they have done for months now, but it never gets old.  He’s still in awe when he looks across the table to see her smiling back at him.  _‘How did he get this lucky?’_

As he often does he reaches across the table for her hand.  Their fingers mingle as they continue to eat their breakfast.  He slides his thumb across her platinum band, plan and smooth, identical to his own.  Out of the blue he says, “You need an engagement ring.”

“What?!?”  She gasps startled from their quiet breakfast.

“An engagement ring.”  His thumb caresses her ring finger.  “I never got you one.  I need to take care of that.”  He says softly.

“Darling, we are already married.  I hardly need an engagement ring now.”  She idly protests.

“But I would have gotten you one if we would have done things differently.”  His fingers continue to caress over hers.

“Darling, its fine.  I don’t need one.  I never had one before.”  She goes back to eating her eggs.

He’s staring at her now.  “You _never_ had one?” 

Taking a bite of egg she shakes her head.  “No, I never did.”

“Well, then that seals it.  I’m definitely getting you one!”  He takes her hand in his holding on a little tighter.

“Matt, it’s not necessary.”

“Of course it’s not necessary but that’s why it’s so very important that you have one.”  She looked at him confused, not at all understanding.  He pulled her hand closer to him kissing the spot where he was going to put just such a ring.  “It’s a ring so that you always know wherever you are, whatever you are doing that I love you always.”

She smiled at him.  She loved how romantic he could be.  “But isn’t that what are wedding rings are for?”

“Our wedding rings are about us belonging to one another.  An engagement ring is about how much I love and adore you.  I don’t want you to _ever_ doubt that…even for a moment.  So every time you look down and see it, it will be like me telling you I love you.”

Her heart melted, right there at the breakfast table, over a plate of eggs.  _‘How could this man be so wonderful and how could she be so lucky that he was hers?’_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He spent months researching rings, stopping at jewelry stores in every town he was in.  He was determined to find the perfect ring.  He never expected to find it in the local jeweler in Northampton.  It was a small, quaint place that he had probably passed a million times in his youth but it had just what he was looking for.  He hadn’t been sure what he was looking for; only that he’d know it when he saw it. 

Northampton was a small community and he had made it big so everyone knew who he was.  But instead of the older man being in awe of his time as the Doctor he remembered him from a time much further back.  “I remember when you and your mate, the tall one with straight hair, used to pass by in full football kit.  You two were probably on your way to the diner two doors down.”  He whispered in an aside, “At least that’s what all the girls hoped who came by next.” 

Matt turned red, all the way to his ears.  “Yeah, well…..I don’t think they were too interested in me actually.  Now my mate, Alex…he had a way with the ladies even back then.”

“Well, you seem to have done alright for yourself or you wouldn’t be in here now would ya?”  Matt had to smile at the truth in that.

“I have been most fortunate, indeed.  I am married to the most gorgeous, wonderful, sexiest woman on the planet.”

“Married?  Then why are you looking at engagement rings?”  The older man seemed perplexed.

Matt answered with a bit of trepidation, not sure how much of the story the locals knew.  “Well, you see we married in a bit of a hurry……..and now I want to make it right.  Do it right, you know?”

“You want her to know that she is special…..to you?”

“Yeah!”  He sighed.  “I know she knows I love her but I’d like this ring to be a constant reminder of that.  I want her to know that I will love her always.”

“Forever?”

“Yes, Forever!”

 “I think I know just the ring for you.”  The jeweler hobbled back to his back room and returned with a black velvet tray with one ring positioned in the center.  He presented it to Matt, who smiled as soon as he saw it.  Baguette diamonds completely surrounding the platinum setting.  They sparkled in the light and seemed to be a matched set to his ring, which was identical to hers.  “This is called a Forever ring.  The diamonds go on in a never ending circle.”

“A Forever ring.  I like the sound of that.”  He hadn’t been sure what he was looking for when he started his search months ago but he knew he’d know when he found it.  He knew.  This was the perfect ring.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On their six month anniversary he moved heaven and earth to make sure they were both in the same place at the same time.  As it turned out that place was LA. 

Not being as familiar with restaurants in LA, he called upon Karen to help him choose just the right place.  It was quiet and romantic and was known for keeping your privacy. 

He paced around the living room frequently checking his watch.  Alex had kicked him out of their bedroom so she could finish getting ready and he was anxiously wondering how long this was going to take.  Just as he was going to shout up to her…..there she was. 

Standing at the top of the stairs she took his breath away.  The periwinkle blue dress made her skin glow looking more like the goddess he knew she was.  The deep neckline and spaghetti straps gave him plenty of skin to linger over which he did as he continued to gape at her.  Saying nothing she made her way down the stairs to stand before him.  “What do you think?” She swayed from side to side.

“Gorgeous!  Absolutely gorgeous!”  His voice hoarse as he tried to remember how to speak.  She smiled, that brilliant smile that caused his heart to beat just a little faster.

“Shall we go?” She extended her hand to him.

Taking her hand he tugged her closer meeting her lips in a searing kiss.  Pulling his head back he beams at her, “Now we can go.”  She smiles back as he leads her to the car.

Living in LA on a more permanent basis had its perks.  He finally treated himself to the sports car he’d always wanted that was much too impractical for the weather in the UK.  They arrived in style in his brand new shiny red Audi R8 Spyder convertible. 

After helping Alex from the car he handed his keys to the valet, “Please be careful with her.  I’ve only had her a week.”  The valet acknowledged that he would be most cautious.

Alex giggled at him.  “Having trouble letting someone else drive your baby?”

He sputtered next to her, trying to act non-chalant but failing miserably.  One look at her told him she saw right through him.  “Yeah, I guess I am.  It’s just I’ve wanted that car for so long.  It was never practical in the UK with the rubbish weather there.”

She leaned over kissing his cheek then using her thumb to rub away the lipstick.  “It’s alright darling.  I should be the one cross.”

He looked at her perplexed wondering if buying a fancy car was something that came under the category of ‘must be discussed now that we were married’.  Interrupting his thoughts she declared, “After all the valet got to drive it before I did.”

She’s looking at him with a playful smirk and he knows she’s teasing him.  “You can drive it anytime you like, wife.”  He leans over sealing it with a kiss.

Her eyes light up at the invitation.  “Ooh, that sounds fun!”

The restaurant was truly romantic.  The waiters took care of their every need, including giving them space to just linger over portions of their meal.  Over the table his fingers entwined with hers and remained there for most of the night.

As he sipped his wine he looked at her gorgeous face just so happy she chose him.  They had been so happy these past six months.  Sure their life was a bit chaotic, how could living on two different continents not be?  But they made it work.

After dinner they were standing outside the restaurant waiting for the valet to bring around the car.  There was a slight breeze that bounced her curls around her face.  With a twinkle in her eye she made a dash for the driver’s side as soon as the car stopped.  He was still standing there with his mouth agape while she adjusted the seat and revved the engine.  Looking over to him she smiled while raising her eyebrows, “You coming?”

He hopped in the car as the roof was being lowered.  When he looked at her incredulously she replied, “What?  You said anytime.”  She pulled out feeling the breeze ruffle her hair.  He should be cross with her but how could he be.  The look on her face was of pure joy as she changed gears, feeling the wind on her face, not caring if it pulled her fancy do apart.  There was _his_ Alex.....the one he would love with his dying breath.

She took the ’scenic route’ home but he didn’t mind he liked the view…..the view of watching her.  She seemed so free.  She wasn’t thinking about what other’s thought, or whether daughters, ex-husbands, or parents would approve; she was just being herself.  _There_ was the woman he fell in love with.

When they finally pulled into the garage of her LA home he couldn’t wait another minute leaning over the gear shift to kiss her.  One hand reached into her curls while the other fell to her waist.  As he pulled back his hand was caught in the tangled mess that was now her hair and he laughed.  Gently he disentangled himself from her before rushing around the car to help her out of it.

“So….what’d you think of her?”  He asked, his face giddy like that of a schoolboy.

“Her?  Should I be jealous, darling?”  She patted his chest.

Pressing her backside into the side of the car his voice filled with desire he vowed, “Never!”  Wrapping his arms around her he brought her close, his lips pressed firmly into hers.  When he stepped back the world around them had fallen away leaving only them.

Never letting go of her hand he lead her into the house and up the stairs to their room.  His lips on hers will never not be anything short of heaven.  The small gasp she makes as she parts her lips for him still makes his heart stutter.  He pulls her close pressing himself fully into her letting her feel all of him as he feels her.  The only thing better would be less clothes between them.  His hands slide up her back into her curls; he loves the feel of them tethering her to him. 

Unable to run his fingers through her hair because of the pins he steps back and huffs.  Her hair is still a tangled mess from the car ride.  He turns her around which just so happens is in front of her dresser with the large mirror.  Slowly, methodically, almost reverently he removes the pins that hold her hair away from her neck but not before kissing the skin beneath it.  When he finally has her hair free of pins he runs his fingers through her curls.  He can’t say why but the feeling of them between his fingers transports him to a world where only he and Alex exist.

Pulling her hair to one side his lips kiss the skin exposed there, tasting it, claiming it.  His lips continue across her shoulder dragging the strap of her dress with his chin to the very edge.  He continues his journey across her shoulders until he has mapped the other side as well.  Letting go of her hair his eyes meet hers in the mirror.  They are each dark with desire.  Watching her in the mirror he slowly drags the straps the rest of the way down her arm.  The dress slides down revealing her gorgeous, toned body. 

Unable to hold himself back he turns her in his arms crashing his lips against hers.  From there it is a frantic removal of the rest of their clothes until they fall naked on the bed. 

He wants her…..god how much he wants her ………always.

She wants him…….one kiss and her need for him overpowers her…..always.

Despite their want they take things slow…… exploring, ……….savoring, ………….claiming.  It is their responses to each other that demands the slow path.  The fire she stirs in him when she arches into his body as his mouth takes her nipple, swirling his tongue over it until it is taut.  His unyielding compliance when she takes his cock in hand letting her know he is hers to do with as she wills.  The devotion he feels as he tastes her with his mouth and devours her with his tongue until she writhes in his arms, body flush and sated.  That feeling of completeness they feel when they are coupled taking each other to a place only they can.  Sated, loved, complete they savor the feel of each other’s arms around them until that time when sleep claims them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the sweat cools from their skin they continue to hold one another, drawing nothings across each other’s skin.  She thinks this might be her favorite time of all.  As they are coming down from their high, after they have been as physically close as is possible; this is when they are the closest.  This is when they hold one another, tell each other sweet nothings, possibly secrets, or nothing at all.  She wishes this time could go on forever.

Vaguely she’s aware of him reaching behind himself for something but it’s not until he places the wrapped package complete with bow on her bare hip that her eyes leave the words she has been writing on his chest.

Seeing the present her eyes stray back to his with a twinkle in them, “What’s this?”  She purrs.

He traces her face with his forefinger before sneaking in another kiss.  She doesn’t seem to mind.  His eyes never leave her face as he says, “Just a little something I promised you a while ago.  Happy Anniversary!”

Gathering it from its perch on her hip she brings it between them.  Playfully she takes a ridiculous amount of time to remove the wrapping knowing it’s driving him absolutely bonkers.  _‘He’s so adorable when he’s wound up._ ’ 

She gasps when she opens the lid starring at the absolutely gorgeous diamond ring.  “Oh Matt!”  Her hand goes to her lips as if to contain the emotion she is feeling but he can see it bursting at the corners of her eyes.

“Do you like it?”

She stares at him as if he is mad.  “Of course, it’s gorgeous!”

“Just like you.”  He beams at her.

“Oh Matt…”  Tears are trickling down her cheeks now as she can’t take her eyes off it.  She’s never seen anything so gorgeous and she still can’t believe he would get this for her.

As if he read her thoughts he catches her chin with his fingers turning her so he can see her eyes.  “Hey, you are the most important person in the world to me.  I love you and every day when you look at your hand I want you to remember that.  Remember that to me there is no one else…..that you are my everything……..always.” 

Leaning forward he took her lips in his.  His fingers slid through her curls as hers reached for his locks as well, the box cradled between them.  Gasping for air they let their foreheads rest on one another’s.  

Pulling back he picked up the box taking the ring out.  Before asking for her hand he bestowed the ring with a kiss, so that she could always carry it with her.  When he slid the ring on her finger it felt so right.  He knew she was his forever and she felt certain that she had banished any doubts she still had as well.  They would be together Always.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	32. The Most Wonderful Thing I Decided to do was to Share My Life and  Heart with You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final Chapter ~ Epilogue (if you like)

About two years into their marriage they are back in LA.  He’s in her office checking emails on the laptop when an envelope on the top of her desk catches his eye.  Picking it up he looks closer at the return address:  _Santa Monica Fertility Clinic_.  Checking the postmark, it’s from two weeks ago.  _‘She’s opened it, read it, and kept it.’_   He considers reading it himself but discards the idea deciding to go to the source instead.

“Alex!”  He calls for her from the study, envelope still held tight in his left hand.  He’s about halfway across the room when she comes in.  “Yes?”

Immediately he flushes at the thought that he may have invaded her privacy in any way but he has to know what this is about.  “Sweetheart, I didn’t mean to pry but it was just sitting there and I couldn’t help to notice the name on the envelope.”  He places the envelope in her hand.  He doesn’t miss her hand shaking.

“So you’ve read it?”  Her eyes fixated on the envelope, her voice is calm, not accusing as he would have expected.

“Only the name on the outside.  I didn’t look inside.  I swear.”  Coming closer to her he rests his hand on her shoulder his thumb absently stroking her neck.  “I wanted to hear from you what this was about.”

She nods without saying anything.  Reaching for his hand she tugs him to the small sofa in the corner.  He can see her eyes shimmering with tears and his heart clutches in his chest.  Reaching into the envelope she hands him its contents waiting for him to read it over.

It looks like some kind of a bill, from what he can tell, a monthly bill for something called ‘cryopreservation storage’.  His face registers confusion when he looks in her direction.  “I don’t understand.  What is this about?”

Slowly she takes the paper back from him staring at it for several minutes before she answers him.  “These are my babies, or ….what would have been babies if my body wasn’t so useless.”

Seeing the emotion radiating off her body he scoots closer to her resting his hand against her arm.  “Alex love, I don’t understand what you’re saying.” 

Looking at him trying hard to keep the tears at bay she explains.  “Years ago when Florian and I were trying to have babies I had several of my eggs harvested and frozen.  We weren’t sure how the IVF treatments would work.  These were the eggs for implantation.  After we had Salome we tried to have another child but my body wouldn’t allow it.  You already know this…..that process destroyed us.  These…” she waves the paper, “are just a reminder of the brothers and sisters Salome would have had if it would have been possible.”

By now the tears have made their way down her cheeks as she remembers a time when she felt far less than a woman.  Quickly he gathers her in his arms pulling her to his lap.  He just holds her cooing in her ear as the tears flow remembering a time long ago but not far enough away to not devastate.

When she has calmed and he has kissed away the tears he has to ask.  “But Alex what I don’t understand is why now?  Why do you still have them?”

“I don’t know.”  She gets a faraway look in her eye as if dreaming of a future that never was.  “I’ve just never been able to let them go.  I know it’s silly.  They’re not really children but in some way they feel like they are.”  He holds her, rocking her, hoping that it brings her some level of comfort. 

It’s during this time that a thought occurs to him.  “Is that something you still want?”

Caught in her own grief she almost doesn’t hear him.  “What?  What was that darling?”  She looks at him expectantly.

Now that she is looking at him he asks with a bit more compassion.  “Is that something you still want?”

“What?  To have more babies?  Darling, I can’t.  I’ve told you that, my body wouldn’t let me back then.  It surely wouldn’t now.”  She nuzzles into his chest trying to hide her inadequacy.

Pulling her from his chest he positions her so that he can look into her eyes.  “Sweetheart, you didn’t answer the question.”

Exasperated she tries to pull away.  “What does it matter anyways?  I can’t!  What I want doesn’t matter.”

He pulls her back to look at him piercing her with his stare.  “Answer the question, Alex.  Is this something you still want?”

His eyes seem to see into her soul and she cannot deny him the truth.  “Yes!  Yes, I still want babies.” Her confession seems to break her as she falls into his chest and his arms shelter her there.

He’s not sure how long he holds her before she finally seems to settle pushing herself from his chest.  Her eyes are puffy and red, her cheeks are streaked from tears, and he thinks she has never looked more beautiful.  Trying to pull herself together she begins to stuff the papers back into the envelope putting the history that never was back into its box.

Before she tries to get up he whispers into her ear, “Want to have a baby with me?”

She gasps at his suggestion both because she would love nothing more and because it seems so cruel.  “Ma-tt, you know I can’t.”  She tries to get away from him again.

“Alex, I assume if these eggs are still being kept in storage that they are still viable.”  He has taken the envelope in his hand using it to make his point.

“But….I can’t.  The eggs were never the problem….it was me.”

“Alex love, there is nothing wrong with you.  Please stop saying that.  Now I’m not daft.  I know it isn’t possible for the baby to grow inside of you but what if we found a surrogate?”

Her eyes grew to three times their size as his words sunk in.  “A surrogate?  You would want that?”

“Only if you do.”  He wisely answered within moments.

“Florian was adamantly opposed to that idea.  I can’t say I liked it much either.”  She’s chewing on her bottom lip as she tells him.

“It’s ok.  It was just an idea.  You know how I like to make your dreams come true.”  He nuzzles her, kissing her lightly on the lips.

“What about you darling?  Is this something you want?”  She looked at him anxiously wondering if all along he had given up on his dream of fatherhood for her.

He had you know.  He knew (or at least thought he did) that loving her meant ever having a child of his own.  He had accepted that, accepted Salome as his one and only child.  But given the opportunity he couldn’t think of anything more wonderful than a little bit of him and a little bit of her creating something new.  With loving eyes he stroked her hair from her face, “Alex love, I love our life together just the two of us, and the three of us when Salome is with us.  I never thought I could have more than that and I am happy.”  He kisses her softly.

“But?”  She prods him.

“But, I can’t deny that I would love to have another little girl with soft curls who looks like you and me.”

“Or a boy who’s just the right amount of clumsy to be charming and loving.”

He blushed.  “ _Yeah._ ”  Now it was him who was trying to keep the tears at bay.

They heard Salome come home in the distance and schooled their emotions.  It was weeks before Alex brought the subject up again.  Lying in his arms after they had just made love she asks, “Do you still want to have a baby with me?”

His entire body goes still not sure where this came from or what is the correct answer to a question such as that.  She must register his hesitancy and turns in his arms so that she rests against his chest while looking at him.  “I’ve been thinking about our conversation in the study all those weeks ago.”  The memories start to come back to him and he feels a bit more comfortable knowing where this is coming from.  He smiles back at her.  “I don’t think I’m as opposed to the surrogacy idea as I once was.”  His eyes widen but he wisely keeps silent.  “I think before it was about my failure, my failure as a woman.  But now it seems more like a gift.  I would never be able to give you a child….at my age….but maybe this way I can.”

He strokes her cheek.  “Alex this isn’t about you giving me a child.  This can only happen if it is something we both want.”  He pulls her up his body until her eyes meet his.  “You have to be honest with me Alex, and yourself.  Is this something you really want?  To have another baby when yours is almost grown?”

Kissing him gently she speaks softly, “Matt I had always dreamed of having loads of babies, living far from the city, and just being happy.  I’ve had to live a different life, create a different dream.  Not that I’m really complaining as that life brought me to you but I still wonder what life would have been like if Salome didn’t grow up alone.  So although it’s rather late in my life for this dream I still want it.  Am I crazy?”

He smiles a ridiculous smile at her.  “Just a little love.”  He kisses her passionately.  “But then I’ve always loved that about you.”

So yeah….that’s how they ended up with two kids….one girl….and one boy born about fifteen months apart.  Alex was ecstatic at motherhood.  It didn’t matter that she didn’t get to take on many acting roles.  She was playing the role she always wanted to play.  Matt’s motion picture roles more than amply supported his family along with their country house and a goat or two that he had insisted upon.  The Smith-Kingston household was happy and there wasn’t anyone left who could deny that that was true.

 

**~The End~**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who read, commented, and supported me through this (ridiculously long) fic. I never intended for this to happen when I started writing The Past is But a Whisper in my Ear. That seems to be happening more often lately. Thank you for your final thoughts on the story; they are most appreciated.


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